Morocco Arrests Website Editor for Airing Qaida Video
Moroccan police on Tuesday arrested the editor of an independent news website for airing a video posted by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb that incites "acts of terrorism" in the kingdom.
Ali Anouzla, director of Lakome's Arabic version, was arrested mid-morning, according to several journalists at the popular website, with police also seizing computer equipment from his office.
The arrest follows the publication by Lakome of "a video attributed to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), containing a clear call and a direct incitement to commit acts of terrorism" in Morocco, the public prosecutor said in a statement.
"Appropriate legal procedures will be applied in light of the investigation," the prosecutor added.
The 41-minute video, posted on the Internet last Thursday by AQIM and entitled 'Morocco: the kingdom of corruption and despotism,' calls for jihad in the north African country and lashes out at King Mohamed VI, who is pictured being engulfed in flames.
It is thought to be the first of its kind singling out Morocco since AQIM, the jihadist network's north African franchise, was formed in 2007.
The YouTube version of the video was removed for breaching the site's policy on violence.
Lakome, a popular website which publishes in French and Arabic and is often critical of the authorities, published a statement condemning Anouzla's arrest.
It called the decision by the public prosecutor "excessive in more ways than one," and insisted the website had clearly stated from the beginning that the video was "propaganda".
"Even the act of broadcasting an AQIM video is a common practice among the international media," Lakome added.
The website's decision to carry a link to the video had already drawn sharp criticism from Morocco's mostly pro-regime media.
French-language daily L'Opinion called the decision "totally reprehensible," saying that by airing a video message defending terrorism Lakome "guarantees that it receives the widest possible audience."
Morocco has suffered a number of attacks by Islamist militants over the past decade, the worst of which took place in Casablanca in 2003, when 12 suicide bombers blew themselves up killing 33 people.
The authorities frequently announce the dismantling of jihadist cells with links to al-Qaida.
Source: Agence France Presse
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