Agriculture Minister discusses boosting agricultural cooperation with Romania, Moldova    Egypt's PM orders 60,000 new homes for Alexandria's unsafe buildings    Crystal Martin to build large-scale textile, apparel factory in Egypt    Egypt urges EU support for Gaza ceasefire, reconstruction at Brussels talks    Escalation in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes intensify, ceasefire talks stagnate    Egypt to launch EGTAP.com online platform to train tourism workforce: minister    Singapore's economy grows in Q2 '25    Gold prices dip slightly on Monday trading    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    EU prepared to retaliate with €21b tariff package – Italy's FM    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Egypt's Health Min. discusses drug localisation with Sandoz    Egypt, Mexico discuss environmental cooperation, combating desertification    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt's EDA, Haleon discuss local market support    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt's GAH, Spain's Konecta discuss digital health partnership    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Moroccan police offer glimpse of terror bomb site
Published in Youm7 on 01 - 05 - 2011

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP): A messy heap of Moroccan pastries sit in a shattered glass display case. Twisted nails, strips of clothing and mobile phone parts have been collected and placed in rows of jars. Tourist maps and a charred Douglas Adams' novel lie in clear plastic evidence bags, while the walls and floors bear the blood stains and nail-sized scars of a bomb blast that took the lives of 16 people days earlier.
Investigators hosted journalists Saturday at the devastated remains of the Marrakech cafe where a terrorist detonated a bomb on Thursday, killing mostly Western tourists and injuring more than two dozen more. Seven French, two Canadians, two Moroccans, a Dutch and a Briton have so far been identified as being among the dead.
The attack has shaken the relatively peaceful North African country, that drew nearly 10 million tourists last year to its sandy beaches, desert and mountain landscapes, and historic sites.
A visibly shaken King Mohammed VI earlier emerged from a long convoy of black Mercedes sedans to pay a somber visit to the scene, underscoring the importance of tourism to Morocco's economy. It came just weeks after he promised constitutional reforms to shepherd in more democracy amid a push across the Arab world.
As thousands of people cheered and waved his portrait, or the Moroccan flags distributed before his arrival, he denounced Thursday's attack as "cowardly" and "criminal," saying it would "only strengthen the Moroccan people's will to stand up to whoever might attempt to derail the model that has been chosen for democratic (reforms) and development."
He also visited Ibn Tofail hospital, where two Moroccans and five French are receiving treatment, state news agency MAP reported. Five others, two French, two Dutch and a Moroccan, are being cared for at a Marrakech military hospital.
The Swiss foreign ministry said Saturday that two Swiss residents who were in the cafe at the time of the blast ? one of them a Swiss citizen, the other Portuguese ? are also missing. The two men were traveling with two female Swiss tourists it had said were seriously injured in the explosion.
Officials say no one has claimed responsibility for the blast, which burrowed a crater nearly 1-meter (3 foot) wide and nearly as deep in the second floor terrace of the Argana cafe that overlooks Djemaa el-Fna, the city's historic square. The cafe was renowned as a place for tourists to hang out ? to relax while gazing down on the square's snake charmers, fruit vendors and mystics,
Investigators said Saturday that the bombing looked like the work of professionals, and it was unlikely the perpetrator acted alone. Interior Minister Taieb Cherqaoui had said Friday that the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, though the terror group's eventual role has not been confirmed.
He said that the explosives used included the fertilizer ammonium nitrate and the chemical triacetone triperoxide, TATP, used as a detonator in the 2005 London bombings that killed 52 people.
Investigators said early estimates suggested that the charge involved about 4 kilograms (9 pounds) of explosives, and it showered debris, body parts and shrapnel for dozens of yards out onto the square below. They have ruled out a suicide bombing, saying the bomber had fled the scene by the time of the blast.
"From a distance, there are several possibilities (to set off a bomb)," Taoufiq Sayerh, head of the national scientific police squad, said. "Time-delay, infrared signal, even remote control... the investigations are continuing."
Morocco has been struggling to piece together who was behind the explosion. Sayerh said that the cafe did not appear to have security cameras on the terrace, and despite a police dragnet ? including checkpoints along the roads out of Marrakech ? the attacker or attackers have so far eluded authorities.
"This wasn't just anybody, doing any old thing," said one police investigator, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The bombing is the deadliest in Morocco since five near-simultaneous bombings by an Islamic extremist group left 45 people dead, including a dozen attackers, in Casablanca in 2003. Since then, Moroccan authorities have rounded up and jailed thousands of Islamists.
The North African affiliate of Osama bin Laden's network, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, has its roots in neighboring Algeria and has carried out bombings there and kidnappings in the Saharan regions to the south.
Morocco has had tense relations with Algeria over the years, and a major thorn has been Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Its leading pro-independence group, Polisario Front, has refugee camps in Algeria.


Clic here to read the story from its source.