35 Al qaeda Recruits Captured in Morocco

Police in Morocco have arrested 35 members of a network, which is sending its members to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq on behalf on Al-Qa’ida or to join Islamists in neighboring Algeria, the state news agency MAP reported on Wednesday.

According to the report the arrests were carried out in several cities across the country.

Ever since a string of suicide bombings in the country’s economic capital killed 45 people, the government, which is considered key ally of the U.S. in the war on terror, has launched a crackdown on local Islamists and is currently holding some 1,000 people in jail on terror-related charges.

The suspects heading for Algeria were to take part in the fight against the government as members of Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is the official branch of Al-Qa’ida in North Africa.

Since its entry into the region AQIM, which is made up of a mix of local Islamists and veterans from Afghanistan, has introduced methods previously unseen in the region, such as suicide bombings.

Members of AQIM are also suspected of trying to set up cells in Mauritania. The West African country was, until the arrival of AQIM, considered a quiet and stable country, but in the last couple of months the country has experienced jailbreaks and shootouts with police in residential neighborhoods.

The Rest @ The Media Line