By IPS Correspondents
CASABLANCA, May 19 2003 (IPS)

The terrorist attacks that rocked Casablanca, Morocco’s financial centre, have been blamed by analysts on deprivation that makes the young vulnerable to extremist propaganda.

"The terror strikes against Morocco are neither an isolated nor an ephemeral act," Hassan Najmi, president of the Moroccan Writers Union told IPS. "They are the result of a dismal economic and social situation." A group of 14 suicide bombers attacked five locations in Casablanca usually frequented by westerners Friday, killing 41 people and injuring 100 others, the Moroccan Interior Department said.

Three people from Spain, two from France and an Italian were among those who died in the attacks on a Spanish restaurant, a Jewish association, a Jewish cemetery and a hotel in downtown Casablanca.

Najmi, also a member of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP), says the question is what made the young bombers ready to carry out the attacks. "Take a look at the large belts of poverty, illiteracy and ignorance throughout Morocco and you will find the answer." Development indicators place Morocco well below neighbouring countries like Algeria and Tunisia. Unemployment is officially running at more than 20 percent. More than 17 percent of Morocco’s 30 million live on less than a dollar a day. More than 60 per cent are illiterate.

"Morocco must be prepared for more of these acts if nothing is done to improve the lot of its people," Najmi says. "Terrorists will continue to take advantage of Moroccans’ poverty and ignorance to lure the youth into their culture of hatred and obscurantism."

No group has claimed responsibility for the Casablanca attacks, but the Moroccan authorities say investigations points to the Attarik Al-Moustakim (The Right Path), a hard-line Islamist group believed to have close links with Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.

"All 14 individuals who carried out the attacks were Moroccans," Interior Minister El Mustapha Sahel told the media. Thirteen of the attackers died, and one was arrested.

Mohamed Bensaid Ait Idder, president of the opposition Socialist Unified Left (GSU), accused political parties of failing to politically train the youth. "Political parties have left a vacuum that is now filled by the Islamists," he told IPS.

Twenty-two parties are represented in parliament. But a recent poll conducted by the independent Al-Ahdat Al-Maghribya daily showed that 70 percent of Moroccan youths are not interested in politics or in political parties.

The poll cited "corruption" in political parties and their "failure to live up to promises made in elections" as prime reasons for this lack of interest.

A moderate Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party (PJD), now has 42 seats in the 325-member parliament. Other Islamic parties, including the Adl Wa Al-Ihssane (Justice and Charity), are tolerated but not recognised by the government.

Both the PJD and the Adl Wa Al-Ihssane denounced the Casablanca attacks.

The radical groups are The Right Path and the Salafiya Jihadya, which advocate "holy war against infidels." Abdelwahed Rafiki, leader of The Right Path, once described Osama bin Laden as "a hero."

Mohamed Toza, an expert in Islamic movements, says Morocco’s close ties with the United States and Israel "makes it an obvious target for terror attacks."

The North African kingdom is one of the strongest allies of the United States in the Arab world. Home to a significant Jewish community, Morocco has for long sought to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians, and hosted several secret meetings between leaders.

An audiotape released last February and attributed to bin Laden described Morocco as "ripe for liberation."

Several people in Morocco like Ahmed Haddi, a waiter in a Casablanca café, say the U.S. is provoking such attacks through its Middle East policy. "Washington’s pro-Israeli policy, its occupation of Afghanistan and of Iraq led to the Friday attacks," he says.

Mohamed Bentaleb, a university student, says Morocco should "reconsider its cooperation with the U.S. to become safe from terrorist attacks. Some day the anger will explode. The Friday attacks are only the beginning."

Excerpt: