The Moroccan authorities say they have broken up a militant cell operating in several towns in the kingdom.
The group allegedly had links with al- Qaeda and police described the 15 people arrested as "dangerous".
They had electronic and chemical materials used to make explosives, reports the state press agency, MAP.
It is the fourth such network Morocco says it has broken up this year. An al-Qaeda-inspired group has said it was behind recent attacks in Algeria.
"The members of this structure, known as "Fath al-Andalous" [Conquest of Andalusia], planned to carry out attacks in Morocco and had formed operational links with foreign extremists who have pledged allegiance to the al-Qaeda organisation," MAP says.
The BBC's James Copnall in Morocco says this is almost certainly a reference to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (QIM), an organisation largely based in neighbouring Algeria which has ties with Osama bin Laden's movement.
QIM says it has carried out attacks in several other North African countries, as well as the Algeria bombings which left 70 dead.
However, some analysts believe there is little real regional co-ordination between extremist groups.
Our correspondent says Morocco has been accused of over-dramatising the threat it faces from extremists, to benefit from support from the US and Europe.
Nevertheless, he notes that there have been attacks in Morocco: the most dramatic example occurred five years ago, when suicide bombers killed 45 people in Casablanca.
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Madrid - Morocco has asked Spain to give it temporary custody of a Moroccan convicted in 2007 of involvement in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings so that it can try him for the 2003 Casablanca bombings, a court source said.
The request was made to Spain's National Audience, the country's top anti-terrorism court, which in October 2007 sentenced Hassan Al Haski to 15 years in jail for belonging to a terrorist group that carried out the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people, the source said.
Spain's Supreme Court in July reduced his sentence to 14 years.
Morocco considers Al Haski one of founders of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group, which has links to al-Qaeda, that is blamed for the May 2003 Casablanca attacks that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers.
In 2006 Spanish authorities agreed to extradite Al Haski to Morocco but that cannot happen while he is in jail in Spain.
Al Haski is still under investigation in Spain by top anti-terrorism judge, Baltasar Garzon, who is heading a separate inquiry into the Casablanca bombings which targeted Spanish interests in the city. - Sapa-AFP
Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-08-13 14:23:40
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Originally from: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=85&art_id=nw20080813142340641C870746
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