AP News, July 6th, 2007
Morocco raised its terror alert to its highest level and ordered stepped up security nationwide Friday, citing a "serious threat of a terrorist act."
The country's top police, intelligence and security officials met Friday to discuss terror threats and decided to raise the level to maximum, the state news agency MAP said, citing an Interior Ministry statement.
The maximum level "indicates a serious threat of a terrorist act and demands extreme mobilization by the bodies concerned," the statement said.
No details about the threat were reported. A security official told The Associated Press the meeting took place and the alert level was raised, but would give no other details because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called off a trip to Morocco scheduled for next week. His spokesman, David Martinon, said the trip was put off at the request of Moroccan authorities "for scheduling reasons," and no mention was made of security risks.
Interior Minister Mohamed Benaissa urged security serves to heighten their vigilance, citing "viable intelligence" about terrorist threats, MAP said.
Moroccan authorities last raised security alert levels in April after suicide bombings in Casablanca and larger suicide attacks in neighboring Algeria. Authorities also raised alert levels in February.
Suicide bombings in 2003 in Casablanca killed 45 people and stunned this relatively moderate Muslim country, a popular vacation spot. Since then, Moroccan authorities have cracked down on suspected terrorist activity, making regular arrests.
In March, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Casablanca cyber cafe, and investigators later uncovered an alleged plot targeting tourist sites across Morocco. Police later cornered four suspects, shooting one dead and prompting the other three to blow themselves up to avoid capture. The blasts killed a policeman and injured 21 other people.
The government has downplayed potential links to international terrorist networks, but security analysts have associated the recent Casablanca violence with a wave of resurgent Islamic extremism in North Africa.
