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CNN Sunday Morning
Moroccan Officials Question Terror Suspects
Aired May 18, 2003 - 08:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go now to Morocco, where officials there are questioning dozens of suspects detained after Friday night's bombings in Casablanca. Forty-one people died in the blast, including at least 10 attackers.
CNN's Jim Bittermann is joining with us by phone now with the very latest on that.
Jim, what's the latest on the investigation there?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robin. Well, in fact, the police have picked up more than 40 people so far. But they're warning journalists not to play the numbers game because they say in fact; this is kind of an ongoing operation and they'll be doing a lot of rounding up of a lot of people, trying to gather as much information as they can.
The key suspect is still the one bomber -- the one suicide bomber who survived and was arrested. Apparently according to some reports here this morning he is now cooperating with police. And police are being assisted now by French and American counterterrorism experts who are on the ground and conducting their own investigations into what went on.
We are also expecting in just a few minutes from now King Mohammed the Sixth will be making a visit to some of those scenes the attacks on Friday night. We're expecting to get a statement from the kind, probably through his spokesman some time later on in the afternoon here.
I would say on the ground here, most people are still in a state of shock over these attacks. Shock that terrorism has happened elsewhere in the Middle East has now seems to have spread here. And also a bit shocked that according to the Interior Ministry, all those involved in the attacks, 14 people -- 14 suicide bombers, according to the Interior Ministry, were all Moroccan citizens.
On the other hand, there has been some efforts to track down al Qaeda operations here for more than a year now because of an attack that was being planned here by Saudis and Moroccans. An attack was being planned to blow up some U.S. warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Three Saudis were arrested and went to jail for that in number February. And then in March, a 30-year-old young man who was involved with kind of a local splinter group of al Qaeda was arrested. A splinter group called Salafia Jihadia. He is one that had praised Osama bin Laden as a hero in the Muslim world. He's been arrested and is still in custody.
So at least, there's some sense is that there's been an increase in the activity here -- extremist activity. And the police now take these attacks a further sign of that -- Robin.
MEADE: Jim Bittermann, thank you so much for giving us the very latest on who what is happening there and the investigation in Morocco after those attacks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 18, 2003 - 08:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go now to Morocco, where officials there are questioning dozens of suspects detained after Friday night's bombings in Casablanca. Forty-one people died in the blast, including at least 10 attackers.
CNN's Jim Bittermann is joining with us by phone now with the very latest on that.
Jim, what's the latest on the investigation there?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robin. Well, in fact, the police have picked up more than 40 people so far. But they're warning journalists not to play the numbers game because they say in fact; this is kind of an ongoing operation and they'll be doing a lot of rounding up of a lot of people, trying to gather as much information as they can.
The key suspect is still the one bomber -- the one suicide bomber who survived and was arrested. Apparently according to some reports here this morning he is now cooperating with police. And police are being assisted now by French and American counterterrorism experts who are on the ground and conducting their own investigations into what went on.
We are also expecting in just a few minutes from now King Mohammed the Sixth will be making a visit to some of those scenes the attacks on Friday night. We're expecting to get a statement from the kind, probably through his spokesman some time later on in the afternoon here.
I would say on the ground here, most people are still in a state of shock over these attacks. Shock that terrorism has happened elsewhere in the Middle East has now seems to have spread here. And also a bit shocked that according to the Interior Ministry, all those involved in the attacks, 14 people -- 14 suicide bombers, according to the Interior Ministry, were all Moroccan citizens.
On the other hand, there has been some efforts to track down al Qaeda operations here for more than a year now because of an attack that was being planned here by Saudis and Moroccans. An attack was being planned to blow up some U.S. warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Three Saudis were arrested and went to jail for that in number February. And then in March, a 30-year-old young man who was involved with kind of a local splinter group of al Qaeda was arrested. A splinter group called Salafia Jihadia. He is one that had praised Osama bin Laden as a hero in the Muslim world. He's been arrested and is still in custody.
So at least, there's some sense is that there's been an increase in the activity here -- extremist activity. And the police now take these attacks a further sign of that -- Robin.
MEADE: Jim Bittermann, thank you so much for giving us the very latest on who what is happening there and the investigation in Morocco after those attacks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
