Moroccan investigators on Sunday said several of the suicide bombers who killed 41 people were Moroccan Islamists probably tied to global terrorist networks but who lived in the northern slums of tin shacks, dirt sidewalks and hashish dealers.The bombers and many of those arrested in the aftermath of the attacks apparently belonged either to a local radical Islamic organisation implicated in past violence, or to one of its splinter groups, Moroccan and European officials said. European ministers issue terror warning LONDON: European ministers warned that dormant Islamic terrorist cells could strike at any time, heightening worldwide alerts against a possibly resurgent Al Qaeda after suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Both Italian and Spanish Interior Ministers, Giuseppe Pisanu and Angel Acebes, warned of more attacks. German intelligence services also warned of new attacks in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. (Reuters) A US official said the attackers were most likely working at the behest of Al Qaeda. Coming on the heels of bombings in Saudi Arabia, the Casablanca bloodshed alarmed officials in Europe and in Washington who fear that the Al Qaeda is widening its war on the West.For Morocco, the attacks are both an embarrassment and a quandary. Human-rights organisations have accused Moroccan authorities of stifling dissent to keep Islamic political opposition in check. Fourteen suicide bombers broke into 5 teams before killing 41 people.The 14th was wounded and is being interrogated. ‘‘He gave the information on his criminal accomplices and helped identify those who were involved in this operation,’’ Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa told state television.Some of the bombers ‘‘came from a foreign country recently’’ but are Moroccan citizens, he said. Of the dozens arrested, most are from the Sidi Moumen and Mouliai Rashit slums north of Casablanca. Both are crowded neighbourhoods of unpainted cinder block, tiny shacks and idle men. The minister did not confirm or deny a report on the Al Jazeera that two foreigners were among those detained: an Egyptian who was in Belgium and a former army officer from the United Arab Emirates who specialized in explosives.Moroccan officials have singled out two loosely knit radical Islamic groups that may have been responsible. Many of the detained belonged to As Sirat al Mostakeem, a home-grown group based almost totally in Casablanca’s slums, according to Moroccan Islamic experts; officials also point the finger at Salafiya Jihadia, an informal alliance of radical militants in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and North African immigrant communities in Britain, France and Belgium who are frequently accused of having ties with Al Qaeda. (LAT-WP)
