Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Morocco

A series of suicide bombing attacks shattered the relative lull in terrorist violence that had prevailed in Morocco since the 2003 Casablanca bombings. The attacks underscored that Morocco's greatest terrorist threat stems from numerous small "grassroots" Salafi Jihadist groups. The main external terrorism threat to Morocco was al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its demonstrated willingness to train inexperienced Moroccan extremists. Morocco adopted a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that emphasized vigilant security measures, counter-radicalization policies, and strong international cooperation.

This year's violence was centered in the city of Casablanca, Morocco's commercial capital, but the last attack occurred in the city of Meknes.

• On March 11, an individual blew himself up in an Internet café.
• On April 10, three suicide bombers, cornered by police as a result of an investigation of the March bombing, blew themselves up to avoid capture, with a fourth being killed by the police.
• On April 14, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the U.S. Consulate and the private American Language Center, respectively. Other than the attackers themselves, one person was wounded.
• In August, a fourth suicide bombing incident took place in Meknes when an individual unsuccessfully attacked a tourist bus with a crude improvised explosive device (IED), blowing his arm off but injuring no one else seriously.

Characteristics of the attacks supported previous analysis that Morocco's greatest terrorist threat stems from the existence of numerous small "grassroots" terrorist groups in Morocco willing to commit violent acts against the state, foreigners, and innocent civilians. However, these separate followings in Morocco remained small, separate, and disorganized groups without territorial safe haven. These attacks, which appeared to have been, at best, poorly coordinated events, contrasted sharply with the 2006 terrorist incidents, which had more elaborate plots, albeit thwarted by Moroccan authorities.

Morocco has several external terrorist threats, including AQIM, al-Qa'ida (AQ), and extremist veterans returning from Iraq.³ The main threat from AQIM remained the knowledge transfer of AQIM operational capabilities to Morocco's committed, but relatively inexperienced, Salafi adherents. There were credible reports of Moroccans going to northern Mali and Algeria and returning to Morocco after training with AQIM. In the wake of the December AQIM double bombing in Algiers, King Mohamed VI summed up Moroccan cognizance of the AQIM threat in a condolence message, stating that "Algeria's security is linked to the security of the region."

AQ's information operations may have inspired the 2003 and 2007 bombings in Casablanca. AQ number two Ayman al-Zawahiri publicly threatened Moroccan and Western interests, and in December 2006 and November 2007, implicitly called for attacks on the two Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which, for many Moroccans, represent humiliating colonial legacies. In so doing, AQ demonstrated its ability to mix local grievances into its propaganda to increase its effectiveness.

Morocco's comprehensive counterterrorism strategy not only emphasized identifying and neutralizing existing terrorist threats through traditional law enforcement and security measures, but also engaged in preventative measures to discourage terrorist recruitment through political reform and policy measures. King Mohamed VI led this effort by unambiguously condemning terrorism and those who espouse or conduct terrorism; he recently called terrorism something "alien to Islam and contrary to religion and law."

In September, Morocco held free and fair elections of its lower house of parliament. Turnout for the election was lower than many expected (approximately 37 percent of registered voters) and the parliament's institutional capacity remained limited. The parliament, however, has been a productive forum for moderate Islamists to air their views, in part offering a counterweight to extremist rhetoric.

The Moroccan government continued to implement internal reforms aimed at ameliorating socio-economic factors that terrorists exploit for recruitment and ideological purposes. The National Initiative for Human Development, launched by King Mohamed VI in 2005, is a $1.2 billion program designed to generate employment, combat poverty, and improve infrastructure, with a special focus on rural areas.

Morocco's Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs (MOIA) continued the reforms launched in 2004 to counter extremist ideology and promote religious moderation and tolerance. MOIA supervised revisions to the country's religious curriculum, broke with precedent by appointing 50 women as spiritual guides at mosques across the country, and installed a closed circuit television network that broadcast moderate religious sermons to 2,000 mosques per day.

Rabat continued to target aggressively and dismantle terrorist cells by enhancing policing techniques, coordinating and focusing the security services, and expanding and bolstering regional counterterrorism partnerships.

The Government of Morocco aggressively continued to pursue terrorism-related cases. Police investigations into the March 11 suicide bombings led police subsequently to capture Saad Houssaini, an individual linked to the 2003 Casablanca bombings who confessed to helping make the explosives for the March attacks.Police were also able to disrupt an attack in Casablanca a month later. The police tracked down the four men involved in the April 10 bombing as a result of an investigation of the March bombing and a tip they had received from an undisclosed source, according to press reports. The Government of Morocco also disrupted numerous cells dedicated to sending Jihadi fighters to Iraq, including one based in the northern Moroccan city of Tetouan. The Tetouan cell appeared to be both a nascent domestic terror cell and a feeding point into the Iraq foreign fighter pipeline.

The Government of Morocco emphasized adherence to human rights standards and increased law enforcement transparency as part of its counterterrorism program. The government provided non-governmental organizations with unprecedented access to prisons where individuals convicted of terrorism-related crimes were being held. Counterterrorism investigations and arrests appeared to be better targeted and legal proceedings more transparent throughout the year. The government also demonstrated unprecedented frankness in presenting candid assessments of the terrorism threat and its response to the public. Government appeals for public support with counterterrorism investigations, in this regard, also appeared successful. Subsequent to the March suicide bombing attacks, police were able to locate and raid a makeshift bomb making facility in Casablanca linked to the bombers after receiving tip-offs from local residents.

In May, Morocco implemented a comprehensive anti-money laundering bill that provided the legal basis for the monitoring, investigation, and prosecution of illegal financial activities. The law also called for the establishment of a centralized Financial Intelligence Unit. Both U.S. and EU assistance provided Moroccan police, customs, central bank, and government financial officials with training to recognize money laundering methodologies. Morocco had an effective system for disseminating U.S. and UN Security Council Resolution terrorist freeze lists to its financial sector and legal authorities. Morocco provided timely reports requested by the UNSC Sanctions Committee and, as a result, was able to freeze some terrorist-related accounts.

Transparent Moroccan court proceedings against detained terrorism suspects ended with prosecutorial successes. In March, Moroccan courts convicted eight individuals for plotting to conduct terrorist attacks in France, Italy, and Morocco. One of the defendants, believed to have ties to AQIM, received the maximum penalty of 15 years. The case of over 50 individuals linked to the Ansar al-Mahdi cell continued to move forward despite several delays. The judicial proceedings for six individuals allegedly linked to the 2007 Casablanca bombings began in May.

Another key to Morocco's counterterrorism success has been its emphasis on international counterterrorism cooperation. The United States and Morocco have built a valuable relationship based on cooperation and an ongoing exchange of information. Moroccan authorities continued to disrupt plots to attack Moroccan, U.S., and other Western-affiliated targets, and aggressively investigated numerous individuals associated with international terrorist groups. Morocco forged solid cooperative relationships with European partners such as Spain and France, and continued to work to increase existing counterterrorism relationships with its North African neighbors.

3 While overall numbers of Moroccans fighting in Iraq are difficult to estimate, some press reporting puts the number at several hundred. The precedent in the 1990s of Jihadists returning to North Africa after the conflict in Afghanistan also underscores this potential threat.