Free Republic

It feels strange visiting a country like Morocco and listening to people extol the virtues of a political system my country waged a revolution against. Morocco has a king, and he’s a real one too, not some kind of a figurehead. But I went there, I listened, and after almost ten years of visiting Middle Eastern countries wracked by tyranny, terrorism, botched revolutions, and wars, I was perhaps a bit more willing to hear what they had to say than I might have been a decade ago. A monarchy is a tough sell for Americans. The founders of our country...

Security forces in Morocco announced on Tuesday (May 12th) that they had successfully dismantled a "nascent terrorist organisation planning to carry out attacks" in the country. This cell, which comprised eight people, operated in at least three towns – Laâyoune, Guelmim, and Boujdour – as part of the radical Islamist Salafia Jihadia movement. "These terrorists have been monitored for months and inquiries showed that the people we detained were a threat," said one interior ministry source wishing to remain anonymous. PJD Secretary-General Abdellah Benkirane said Tuesday in a televised interview that one of the people arrested is a member of...

The first trial has begun of people accused of involvement in the terror attacks in Morocco on May 16th this year. Forty-four people lost their lives when various Western and Jewish targets were bombed in the capital, Casablanca. Since then, the Moroccan authorities have detained around 700 people, who are to stand trial in connection with the attacks. At the request of the defence team, the proceedings against the first group of 52 people was adjourned today until the end of the week. The accused are also charged with being members of Salafiyah Jihadia, a group of Muslim fundamentalists which...

The general commanding four loyalist columns moving on Madrid during Spain's civil war (1936-1939) referred to his militant supporters within the capital as his "fifth column." Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union maintained fifth columns in the United States. These were groups of secret sympathizers, sleeper cells, or supporters of an enemy who engage in espionage or sabotage, or simply disinform about the attacker's intentions. But as soon anyone suggests the presence of an Islamist equivalent in Western democracies, watch out. Militant Muslim "moderates" go into their well-rehearsed tonitruant mode. Islamophobia and McCarthyism are among the milder epithets. Following the...

RABAT, Morocco (AP) - One of three Moroccans arrested in connection with the Madrid train bombings was already being closely watched by authorities in his homeland, where he was suspected of ties to an al-Qaida-linked group, a Moroccan official said Sunday. Jamal Zougam, 30, was one of thousands of Moroccans put under surveillance by authorities after May terrorist bombings in the coastal city of Casablanca, a high-level official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. There were no formal accusations against him. The other two suspects, Mohamed Bekkali, 31, and Mohamed Chaoui, 34, had no police record at...

The trial opened in Morocco on Monday of 34 suspected Islamic militants, including a French national said to be their leader, accused of involvement in the suicide bomb attacks in Casablanca in May that killed 45 people. Frenchman Pierre Robert and 33 Moroccan nationals are alleged by the prosecution to have formed "armed and well-organized criminal bands within Salafia Jihadia," the banned Islamic extremist group suspected of being behind the bombings in Casablanca, Morocco's economic capital. The accused - who face the death penalty if convicted - are charged with criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to undermine state security, premeditated murder and...

A court in the Moroccan city of Casablanca has sentenced ten Muslim fundamentalists to death. Eight men received life sentences; several others were sentenced to twenty years. The radical Muslims are members of the Salafia Jihadia, the movement held responsible for the suicide attacks in Casablanca on May 16th, in which 40 people were killed. The convicts were already in custody at the time of these attacks on charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion. Immediately afterwards, the Moroccan authorities said they would crack down hard on all forms of terrorism.