MARRAKESH, Morocco – The Al-Qaeda terror network is suspected of
involvement in a bomb attack on a popular tourist cafe that killed 15 people in
the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, the government said on Friday.
The Moroccan news agency, citing an official source, said that the death toll
was 15, not 16 as previously stated, and it said the dead included "two
Moroccans, two French nationals, two Canadians and a Dutch national."
Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said that investigators would pursue
all leads including possible links to Al-Qaeda which operates a north African
offshoot in the region.
"All leads will be investigated, including Al-Qaeda," he said.
"The investigation continues to find the perpetrators, but for the moment I
am not prepared to point the finger."
The victims, mostly foreigners, died
Thursday when a suspected suicide bomb exploded at a tourist cafe in Djemaa
el-Fna, the main square of Marrakesh.
A total of 23 others were badly injured, two of whom died overnight. AFP
