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U.S. suspects al Qaeda in Morocco bombingsOfficials: More attacks on 'soft targets' likely
From Chris Plante
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States suspects that al Qaeda was responsible for Friday night's bombings in Morocco and warns that similar attacks are likely. A U.S. counterterrorism official said Saturday that "there is a strong suspicion" al Qaeda coordinated the Moroccan attacks, which were similar to attacks earlier in the week in Saudi Arabia. Those attacks are also thought to have been the work of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda. Future attacks will likely be "on a small scale" and against "soft targets" like the ones attacked in Casablanca, U.S. officials said. A string of bombings in central Casablanca left 41 dead -- including at least 10 who took part in the attacks, Moroccan authorities said. Three Moroccan men and a would-be suicide bomber have been detained in connection with the five near-simultaneous blasts, Moroccan officials said. (Full story) The targets included a Spanish social club, a hotel, a Jewish cemetery, a Jewish community center and the Belgian Consulate. A well-placed U.S. counterterrorism official told CNN that "there may not be much we can do" to stop such suicide operations. Al Qaeda is suspected in the bombings because of their coordinated nature and the tactics used, he said, though he added that available intelligence has not established a direct link. On Monday, eight Americans were among the 25 people killed by near-simultaneous car bombings of three residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nine bombers also died in the attack. (Full story) U.S. officials believe the terrorist network run by the Saudi dissident bin Laden was responsible for those attacks, also. Al Qaeda might "feel the need to show they are still there" after being largely ousted from Afghanistan by the U.S. military and having its international operations disrupted by international law enforcement efforts, a counterterrorism official said, adding that the organization might be considered "akin to a wounded animal -- getting more dangerous" as it finds itself in greater peril. Also, in recent months al Qaeda has "had some success in recruiting" new followers to its cause, he said. The presumed decision by the terrorists to focus on soft targets rather than U.S. military personnel or large-scale targets as in the attacks of September 11, 2001, might indicate that al Qaeda leaders have adopted a "tactical change [designed] to demonstrate that they are still viable," the official said. "If they are hell-bent on sending suicide bombers at hotels, restaurants and social clubs, there may not be much we can do about that." U.S. and Western interests in the Saudi Peninsula, in East Africa and in Asia are of the greatest concern to officials familiar with available intelligence information. This month, the U.S. State Department warned of a continuing threat of terrorism in North Africa. During the past few days, the U.S. and British governments have warned of possible al Qaeda attacks in East Africa. The counterterrorism official noted that Morocco was one of the nations named as potential targets of al Qaeda in an audiotape made public February 11 that U.S. officials believe contained the recorded voice of bin Laden. In that tape, the man believed to be bin Laden called Morocco one of the "tyrannical and apostate regimes ready for liberation." The northwest African nation is considered a moderate Arab state and a U.S. ally. It was the first Arab state to condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and was among the first to denounce the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to the U.S. State Department.
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