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Suspected Moroccan bomber detained
CASABLANCA, Morocco (CNN) -- Moroccan authorities have detained up to 30 people in connection with Friday's suicide bombings in Casablanca, as the death toll rose to 42. Among those in custody is a man suspected of being one of the attackers. CNN correspondent Jim Bittermann reported the man was believed to be cooperating with investigators. The would-be bomber was captured after being injured by the blast from another another bomber, according to Moroccan police. Those arrested were Moroccan nationals between 18 and 22 years old and are part of unspecified "Islamic circles," the Interior Ministry said. Moroccan officials said the attacks claimed another life Sunday when a Spaniard, wounded in one of the blasts, died of his wounds. Most of those killed in the near-simultaneous blasts at five different locations were Moroccans, the ministry said. At least 13 bombers also died in the explosions that rocked Morocco's largest city. More than 100 were wounded in the explosions, Moroccan authorities said. The explosions struck a Spanish social club, a major hotel, a Jewish cemetery, a Jewish community center and the Belgian consulate. A U.S. State Department official said security officials from the U.S. diplomatic mission in Morocco were "on the ground" assisting in the investigation, although there have been no reports of American casualties and no U.S. sites were hit. A U.S. counter-terrorism official said there is a "strong suspicion" the al Qaeda terrorist network was behind the attacks because of the coordinated nature of the strikes and the tactics used. "These types of operations would not have been planned overnight," Magnus Ranstorp, of the Center for the Study of Terrorism at St. Andrews University in Scotland, told CNN. "But it's still too early to say who was responsible."
The attacks came four days after a string of near-simultaneous car bombings struck Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 25 people -- including eight Americans -- in addition to the nine suspected suicide bombers. U.S. officials believe al Qaeda was most likely responsible for that attack. In a tape in February, a man terrorism experts and U.S. officials believe was bin Laden called on Muslims to "break free from the slavery of these tyrannical and apostate regimes, which are enslaved by America, in order to establish the rule of Allah on Earth. Among regions ready for liberation are Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, the country of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia), Yemen and Pakistan." Just days before the Casablanca attacks, King Mohamed VI issued a general amnesty that included the release of three Saudis suspected of being al Qaeda operatives. The three were jailed in February for their alleged participation in a plot to attack ships sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar. The king spent Saturday meeting with his security advisers, who said afterwards that the king has taken personal charge of the inquiry and wants a "rapid and transparent" investigation. The king also plans to take care of victims and their families financially, an aide told CNN's Bittermann. A blast at Casa de Espaņa, a Spanish social club and restaurant, was responsible for most of the deaths. It was packed with people when more than one suicide bomber entered and detonated explosives, Moroccan officials told CNN. The Jewish community center was empty at the time of the attack. The Belgian consulate was also empty, but two Moroccan guards protecting it died in a bombing, according to a spokesman for the Belgian Foreign Affairs Office. Didier Seeuws also said one side of the building "was completely demolished." A consulate spokesman said he believed a nearby restaurant, owned by Moroccan Jews, was the intended target -- but the restaurant's owner said there was no such indication. -- CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux and White House Producer Jen Yuille contributed to this report.
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