MOROCCO TERRORISM: STATE OF "HIGH ALERT,"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000701

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
TERREP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2017
TAGS: PTER ASEC PHUM MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO TERRORISM: STATE OF "HIGH ALERT,"
MOROCCANS CONDEMNING TERROR, QUESTIONING APPROACH

Classified by Political Counselor Craig Karp for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).



1. (C) Summary: Morocco is on a "state of high alert" in the
wake of recent terror attacks in Casablanca, said GOM
spokesman and Communications Minister Nabil Benabdellah in a
press conference on April 18. Responding to recent NGO
criticism, the Minister asserted that the GOM would take
human rights into consideration in its anti-terror efforts
and described terrorism as an "ideological problem" rather
than a product of poverty. He also said security forces had
arrested the "mastermind" of the March 11 and April 10
incidents. A modest demonstration was staged in Casablanca
by a group of Moroccans to condemn the recent terrorist acts
and call for a tolerant, multi-cultural society. Others have
urged engaging Islamist prisoners in dialogue. We have heard
some complaints that the U.S. warden message had "sent the
wrong signal" and exaggerated the threat from terror in the
country. The GOM's more focused investigations after the
latest round of terror incidents stand in contrast with the
mass arrests that characterized the government's response to
the bombings in 2003. End summary.


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GOM on "State of High Alert", Spokesman Rejects Link to
Poverty
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2. (U) Minister of Communication and government spokesman
Nabil Benabdellah on April 18 declared Morocco to be under a
"high state of alert" following the recent suicide bombings
in Casablanca. Benabdellah affirmed that preventative
measures are being taken to thwart additional attacks.
Specifically, security measures near foreign interests, such
as consulates, hotels and religious sites, have been
reinforced. Investigations are ongoing and arrested
suspects, including the mastermind of the bombings and his
assistant, are being interrogated, he said. In reaction to
NGOs, worries about possible human rights, abuses during
the police investigation into the recent Casablanca bombings,
Benabdellah insisted Morocco is committed to respect the
detainees' human rights.


3. (U) Benabdellah asserted that terrorism is more an
ideological and intellectual problem than a social one. The
Minister stated that the terrorism phenomenon is not related
to poverty and exclusion but rather to an ideological and
intellectual deviation from Islam. He contended that there
are several extremist trends in Morocco that claim to stem
from Islam, but, in fact, have no association with religion.
Benabdellah stressed that counterterror efforts require a
global approach, including strengthening democracy and social
and democratic development.


4. (U) The GOM provided more details on April 19 on the
latest terror suspects arrested in Casablanca, including that
the arrest of the "mastermind" of the March 11 and April 10
incidents was captured in Bouskoura, a southeastern suburb of
the city.

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Questioning GOM Approach
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5. (SBU) Meanwhile, government critics and members of the
opposition have grown increasingly vocal in their criticism
of the GOM's approach to terrorism in the wake of the
March-April terrorist incidents. Some have criticized
premature pardons for those serving sentences for terrorism.
Ahmed Benchamsi, editor of the popular French-language Weekly
TelQuel, published a column arguing that Moroccan prisons
have become breeding grounds and indoctrination centers for
domestic terrorism. Benchamsi asserted that the bomber who
detonated himself in an internet cafe on March 11, and many
others who had been rounded up in the mass arrests following
the May 2003 Casablanca bombings, had not been connected to
any violent activities before they entered jail, but later
left as hardened and committed jihadists. Abdelhamid Amin,
the outspoken President of the Moroccan Human Rights
Association, called in an April 17 press conference for the
retrial or release of hundreds being held for alleged links
to "Al-Salafiya Al-Jihadiya," the catch-all term for those
implicated by the GOM in acts of terrorism. Amin asserted
that most prisoners held on terror offenses received unfair
trials and claimed that the GOM "shattered the record for
unfair judgments" in 2006.

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The PJD's Islamic CT Approach
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6. (SBU) For their part, the Islamic Party of Justice and
Development (PJD),called on the government to launch a new
effort to combat terrorism that would include opening a
dialogue with imprisoned extremists. Senior PJD member
Mustafa Ramid (also known for his hardline anti-USG views)
told the party newspaper that some imprisoned for extremism
could be persuaded to recant their views and renounce
violence. Those who do, he contended, should be considered
for release. Going further, Ramid slammed GOM
"anti-religious" policies and asserted that terrorism could
best be combatted by ensuring that Moroccans receive a
"correct" Islamic upbringing. (Note: PJD leader Saad Eddin
Othmani told the Ambassador on April 17 there was a need to
"innoculate" Moroccan youth against terrorist ideology
(septel). End note.)

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Demonstration Condemns Terror
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7. (SBU) On April 18, approximately 100 Moroccans gathered
under the banner of the "Collective for Democracy and
Modernity" in the Place Mohammed V in Central Casablanca to
condemn recent terrorist incidents in the city. The
demonstrators sought to advance their vision of Morocco as a
modern, tolerant, and cross-cultural society. A number of
other political parties and civil society groups
participated. The gathering was staged by some those who
organized the "Ne Touchez Pas Mon Pays" ("Don't touch my
country") movement that emerged in reaction to the 2003
bombings in Casablanca, though the April 18 event was much
more modest in scale.

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Warden Message - Too Far (?)
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8. (C) Karim Halim (protect),office director equivalent for
counterterrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
compained to poloff on April 18 that the U.S. warden message
issued after the April 10 suicide bombings near the U.S.
Consulate and American Language Center, had "gone too far"
and "sent the wrong message." Halim asserted that the
situation was not like Algeria, where well organized
terrorists were carrying out dangerously effective attacks.
By contrast, the recent acts in Morocco had been "acts of
desperation" by amateurish terror groups relentlessly hunted
by the GOM. Halim lamented that the cancellation and
curtailment of USG activities in Morocco (e.g. the National
War College delegation that was to have arrived on April 11)
suggested a lack of confidence in GOM security services and
exaggerated the threat. Poloff responded that the USG had
considerable confidence in the GOM and appreciation for their
efforts, but that the USG also had credible concerns about
the potential for more attacks and a legal responsibility to
share its assesments of the threat with the public.


9. (SBU) Criticism of USG statements was much sharper among
some commentators in the Moroccan media. Writing in the
sensationalist Arabic daily "Al-Massae," columnist Rashid
Niny assailed the "hypocrisy" of USG expressions of concern
for Moroccan victims even as "the U.S. occupying army causing
the suffering of women and children in Iraq." More
outlandish were the claims of anti-U.S. activist Khaled
Sofyani, who interpreted in an interview with the Islamist
daily "Attajdid" the U.S. warden message as laying the
groundwork for a "U.S. intelligence plot" to sew chaos across
North Africa.

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Comment
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10. (C) We thought significant Benabdellah's insistence that
detainees' human rights would be respected. This comment,
combined with the more focused investigation in place of the
mass arrests that characterized the GOM's reaction to the
2003 bombings, suggests to us that the message from human
rights activists and other critics may be starting to
register with the government, now apparently seeking a more
"surgical" response to terror. End comment.

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