Eight persons arrested for advocating and financing terrorism

The general prosecutor at the court of appeal of Rabat, Lahcen Laoufi, announced that eight persons were arrested for advocating terrorism, obtaining foreign funds to be used in terrorist acts, forging passports and hiding information that could have helped in the ongoing probe on last May 16 terrorist attacks in Casablanca.

The magistrate said the probe started when "Al Hayate Al Maghribya," which is published in Oujda (eastern Morocco), run a story by Zakarya Boughrara. The same story was re-published by "Asharq" daily, which also appears in Oujda.

The group of eight individuals who were arrested include the article's author, Zakarya Boughrara, who, the investigation found out, received funds from foreign sources, connected to "Al-Qaeeda" network to finance followers of "Salafya Jihadia," an organization suspected of being behind the Casablanca attacks. It was also established that the funds were used to finance terrorist acts. He confessed collusion with a number of persons to forge passports that would be used by some persons to go to England to meet some members of the "Salafya Jihadia" group. He also says he was the author of a story that was published by the two papers and that advocated ideas of the said group that called for mobilizing persons and means to conduct suicide-operations that would sow disorder and terror.

As for Mustapha Qachnini who works for "Al Hayat Al Maghribya," he also confessed publishing Zakarya Boughrara's article although it contained praise of the dangerous criminal acts perpetrated by the "Salafya Jihadia" elements. He also published an interview with a man named Mohamed Fizazi, one of the theoreticians of "Salafya Jihadia, who praised the Casablanca terrorist attacks.

Two other journalists, Mohamed Lhard and Abdelmajid Ben Tahar, working for "Asharq" paper, were also arrested for the same reasons.

The group of persons who were arrested -all born in Morocco's eastern region- include 3 women.