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Ansar Al-Mahdi Plot
 Mahdi means in Arabic a spiritual master. In the Islamic theology the appearance of a Mahdi has a similar meaning like the appearance of Messiah in Christianity – Ansar Al-Mahdi can be translated as the supporters of the coming Mahdi.
In 07-08/2006 the Moroccan police arrested 58 suspects, most of them from the town of Sale, just North-East of Morocco’s capital Rabat. The group named itself Jammaat (Group) Ansar Al-Mahdi. They were accused of plotting attacks on politicians, diplomats and tourists. The prosecution said the plot could have eclipsed 2003's Casablanca Bombings. (Another Ansar Al-Mahdi Shiite militia is operating in Iraq and has no connection to the Moroccan Ansar Al-Mahdi)
More than 50 defendants from a group called Ansar Al-Mahdi were, eventually, accused of plotting attacks on politicians, diplomats and tourists.
According to Moroccan Interior minister, Chakib Benmoussa, the group was planning to “announce a holy war in the mountains of North Morocco, attack sensitive military targets, foreign interests and well-known Moroccans because they represent the state or for moral reasons”. The police have seized explosives, laboratory materials and propaganda leaflets during raids on the group - the minister added.
According to security officials the group was instructed by Hassan el-Khattab, a former Salafia Jihadia member, who was imprisoned for two years in 2003 following the Casablanca Bombings and was rearrested. Hassan el-Khattab and Ansar Al-Mahdi has developed a system for remote-control explosions, which has been successfully tested by Hassan el-Khattab in El Maamoura forest near Salé.
Among the detainees there was a cell of five former soldiers, led by Yassine El Ouerdini, with training in the use of explosives, who served at the airbase in Salé which was also one of the military sensitive targets scheduled to be attacked first. The cell was able to make the explosives by applying instructions found on specialized websites on the Internet. Relatives of Mohamed Khalouki, one of the arrested soldiers, claimed in the media that Mohamed Khalouki served in a military orchestra and has no knowledge about weapons or explosives.
Four women were also among those arrested, including the wives of two pilots for the national airline, Royal Air Maroc, who were accused in providing financial support to the group.
On Friday 05/25/2007, Ansar Al-Mahdi’s terror trial has been postponed, in the city of Sale, after opening for a day of hearings. The trial has already been adjourned three times over several months. In the hearing four new suspects were added to the defendants list.
Moroccan authorities had previously insisted that the group had no links to foreign groups. But one of the four new suspects was arrested in Libya, where he allegedly had links to a local terrorist networks, while another, arrested in Morocco, was accused of ties to an Islamic militia in Somalia.
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Three of the new suspects were in court on Friday 05/25/2007. The man arrested in Libya was absent. Defense lawyers said the new suspects had no connection to the case.
On 01/05/2008 the Moroccan appeal court approved 25 years in jail for Hassan el-Khattab. Yassine El Ouerdini received 20 years. The court also sentenced the other defendants, including four women, to prison terms ranging between 2 and 15 years in jail, while it acquitted Hicham Rhioui of all charges.
Summary
* Unlike previous terror cells, which were predominantly comprised of members from the poor working class, the Ansar Al-Mahdi group was based on higher social class much more incorporated in the Moroccan society.
* Since the ringleader Hassan el-Khattab was a known Islamic militant, a former Salafia Jihadia member and already spent 2 years in jail for his activity, it is most likely that he was under surveillance of the security services and knowingly or unknowingly led the police to the rest of the group.
* * The group operated without any security compartments, everybody in the group knew about all the rest, about all the activity and the scheduled future plans.
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08/03/2008 07:27:27
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