From 'AP': A Moroccan prosecutor on Tuesday urged a court to impose prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years for alleged members of a militant cell accused of supporting insurgents in Iraq and plotting terrorist bombings. The prosecutor said the 27 suspects plotted to disrupt law and order in Morocco and recruit men willing to fight in the name of radical Islam. The defendants, many of them from the town of Tetouan in northern Morocco, have all denied any ties to al-Qaida or any other terrorist group. The case is being heard by the criminal court in Sale, near the capital, Rabat, that specializes in handling terrorism cases. The trial is scheduled to resume on May 27th.Some suspects traveled to Iraq, while others went to a militant training camp in neighboring Algeria using fake identity papers, said the prosecutor, who was not identified by name. Those in the group had regular contact with people in Iraq and Syria by Internet and cell phone, he said. The prosecutor said some in the group tried to acquire ammonia to make explosives or plotted to blow up ships in the Straits of Gibraltar between Morocco and Spain. He said some former members carried out suicide bombings in Iraq and others collected funds to support bombers.
Defense lawyers insisted their clients were not part of the alleged terror cell or had been coaxed into confessions by police. Morocco, which is a largely moderate Muslim kingdom and strong U.S. ally, has seen a rise of radical Islam in recent years. It has jailed hundreds of suspected militants under anti-terror laws passed in 2003 after a string of bombings in Casablanca that killed 45 people.
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