Sunday, May 18, 2003
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By Atul Aneja
The Casablanca blasts have resulted in nearly 40 deaths while around 100 people have been injured. The serial bombings targeted a Jewish community centre and synagogue, the Belgium embassy, the Al Safir hotel, a Spanish cultural centre and a restaurant opposite the Spanish centre. It is not the first time Jewish symbols have been targeted in Africa. Al-Qaeda had killed 21 people when it targeted the Jerba synagogue in Tunisia in April 2002. It had also attacked a hotel frequented by Israelis in Mombassa, Kenya, in November last. Fourteen Israelis were killed in that attack. U.S. officials now admit that the Riyadh bombings were personally ordered by Osama bin Laden. In yet another indication that the Al-Qaeda leadership chain has not been disrupted, Abdullah Mohammad Fazul, the alleged Egyptian head of Al-Qaeda's East Africa wing since 1995, was spotted in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday. Fazul has been blamed for masterminding three high profile attacks: the Mombassa hotel bombing, the blasts at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a 1996 attack on an Ethiopian airliner in which Israeli aviation specialists were killed. In fact, alarmed by Fazul's presence, British Airways decided to suspend its operations to Kenya. Why did terrorists choose to target Morocco? According to reports, Morocco has evolved into Washington's premier base in North Africa. Besides, some of the high-ranking Iraqi officials captured by the U.S. during the war in Iraq are being interrogated there. Diplomatic sources point out that the war against terrorism has still not seriously disrupted the African wing of Al-Qaeda. Operatives from Al-Qaeda and the Egyptian Jihad Islami appear to have concentrated in the fishing villages along the eastern coast of Somalia between Kismoayo port and Ras Kaambooni, not far from the Kenyan border. AP reports: Al-Qaeda is out to prove it is still a force, U.S. counter-terrorism officials said, suggesting the bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia and terrorist threats in Africa and Asia are part of a coordinated effort to strike lightly defended targets. At this point, those targets do not appear to include places within the United States, officials said on Friday. The Casablanca attacks are likely to reinforce intelligence reports pointing toward attacks overseas, although there were no warnings about potential attacks in Morocco or any other North African countries. U.S. and British authorities have warned of threats in East Africa, particularly Kenya, and in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia.
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