Blast kills 14 in Marrakesh cafe

[Spiraling Leopard]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110428/ts_afp/moroccoblastattack

MARRAKESH, Morocco (AFP) – A powerful blast ripped through a cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Thursday, killing 11 foreigners and three Moroccans in what authorities suspect was the work of a suicide bomber.
"According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office told AFP.
"We found nails in one of the bodies," added the official, who was in a hospital where some of the bodies were taken.
And an interior ministry official said that indications pointed to a terror attack on the Argana cafe in the main square of Marrakesh, a favourite haunt of foreign tourists.
But there were contradictory reports on exactly how the blast occurred.
One witness who was inside the cafe but escaped unscathed said: "An individual entered, ordered an orange juice and a few minutes later blew himself up."
But another witness, quoted by several Moroccan radio stations, said the bomber dropped a suitcase and immediately walked out of the cafe.
Latifa Idrissi, whose husband Yassine Bouzidi, 28, was one of the victims, said the blast occurred on the cafe's terrace and badly injured the manager.
A medical source speaking on condition of anonymity said five women are among the 11 dead foreigners.
"We cannot at this stage determine the exact identity of all the victims," the source added.
Earlier another official said that, in addition to the 14 fatalities, 20 people were injured in the midday blast which he described as "criminal" in nature.
Authorities said an investigation was under way to shed more light on the explosion which occurred on Djemaa el Fna square in the central Moroccan city.
Early reports had suggested that the blast was caused by the accidental explosion of gas canisters.
The French embassy here meanwhile said it did not know whether French nationals were among the casualties but added that it was in touch with Moroccan authorities to find out.
Thursday's Marrakesh blast came eight years after the May 16, 2003 terror attacks that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers, in Casablanca, Morocco's largest city.
Last January, Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui said 27 suspected terrorists recently arrested in the country's south had ties to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked regional offshoot, and to Europe-based.
He said four of the suspects were arrested near the Algerian-Moroccan border.
According to experts, AQIM bases are spread across Algeria, Mauritania and Mali.
Cherkaoui then said the network had planned bank robberies in Casablanca and Rabat "to finance its terrorist actions."
And his ministry said the network was led by "a Moroccan national who is a member of AQIM and who wanted to create a rear base in the country for terror attacks."

[Spiraling Leopard]

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=218381

'Pregnant Israeli, husband are killed in Morocco blast'

Two Jews reportedly among 15 dead in Marrakesh cafe bombing; 10 foreigners killed; Jewish couple was visiting from Shanghai.

A bomb killed 15 people including two Jews who were among 10 foreigners in Morocco's bustling tourist destination of Marrakesh, state television said on Thursday, in an attack that bore the hallmark of Islamist militants. The Jewish woman was reportedly an Israeli citizen and pregnant.

The blast ripped through a cafe overlooking Marrakesh's Jamaa el-Fnaa square, a spot that is often packed with foreign tourists. A Reuters photographer said he saw rescuers pulling dismembered bodies from the wreckage.

State-run 2M television said the 15 dead comprised six French nationals, five Moroccans and four foreigners whose nationality it did not give. Army Radio reported that two Jews, residents of China, were among those killed in the blast.

"Analysis of the early evidence collected at the site of the blast that occurred on Thursday at a cafe in Marrakesh confirms the theory of an attack," the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.

Two residents in Marrakesh who were near the square told Reuters the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

If confirmed as the work of Islamist militants, the attack would be the first such major attack in Morocco since 2003, when suicide bombings in the commercial capital, Casablanca, killed more than 45 people.

Morocco's ruler, King Mohammed, has promised to reform the constitution to placate protesters who have been inspired by uprisings in other part of the Arab world. But a fresh round of protests is planned for this Sunday.

A doctor at a Marrakesh hospital said at least one of those killed was a French citizen, and that some of those injured had lost limbs in the blast.

"I heard a massive blast. The first and second floors of the building were destroyed," said one local woman, who did not want to be identified. "Some witnesses said they have seen a man carrying a bag entering the cafe before the blast occurred."

The cafe is in the Marrakesh medina, or old city, which is designated by the United Nation's cultural arm as a World Heritage Site. It is usually packed with stalls, story-tellers and snake-charmers seeking to attract tourists.

"You can't find a more emblematic target than Jamaa el-Fnaa square," said a Frenchman who owns a restaurant in the city.

"With this attack and amid the worrying unrest in the region, tourism will hit the doldrums for some time," said the businessman, who did not want his name published.

The roof over the cafe's upstairs terrace was ripped off by the force of the explosion and pieces of plaster and electrical wires hung from the ceiling.

The body of one of the victims lay amid the rubble, covered by a blanket, with one hand sticking out. Blood stained the floor of the cafe red in several places.

"I heard a very loud blast in the square. It occurred inside Argana cafe. When I approached the scene, I saw shredded bodies being pulled out of the cafe," the Reuters photographer said.

"The first floor bore the brunt of the damage while the ground floor was almost intact ... There are a lot of police who, with forensics, are sifting through the debris."

[TruthSpreader]

Any Infidel that vacations in a Muslim majority country is a fool. This is proof.