Morocco: 04 suspected terrorists before justice

RABAT-Four people suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell operating between Spain and Morocco, whose dismantling was announced Friday, were sent Monday to the prosecutor at the anti-terrorism court of Salé, said an official source.

•     According to the Ministry of Interior, the cell close to the radical movement Salafiya-Jihadia was led by Abdellah Ahram, also known as Abu Yassin. Three of the five people arrested Friday are brothers, Spanish of Moroccan origin, said the same source.
  
      The four individuals brought Monday before the prosecution of Salé (twin-city of Rabat) were accused of “constitution of a criminal gang, preparation of terrorist acts, collecting funds for use in terrorist acts, drug trafficking, car theft and forgery of documents of vehicles.”
  
      Their identities were not disclosed and the fate of the fifth person whose arrest was announced Friday has not been clarified.
  
      All four were to be presented Monday to the investigating judge in charge of terrorist cases in Salé.
  
      A source close to security services said Friday that the network engaged in drug trafficking to Spain and the falsification of documents of vehicles they put on sale in Morocco.
  
      The dismantling of this cell resulted in the seizure of 3 vehicles registered in Ceuta (Sebta) and a lot of important documents and audio character inciting Islamic jihad (holy war), legitimizing suicide operations and execution of hostages held by Al Qaeda, had added the same source.
  
      Abu Yassin was born in 1975 in Tetouan (Northern Morocco). He had been arrested in Morocco in 2006 as part of the dismantling of the “Ansar El Mahdi” cell (Supporters of El Mahdi, ie: one of the companions of the Prophet Mohammed) Hassan Khattab.
  
      Sentenced to 2 years in prison, Abu Yassin was released in July 2008 and had sought to establish this cell in Ceuta, according to the same source. This case has highlighted the conversion of some radical Islamic activists in organized crime. 
     
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.