In late November, 2005, while searching the residences of suspected terrorist cell members in Casablanca, Moroccan authorities discovered documents that included diagrams and instructions for preparing a bomb employing poisonous gas. [1]

The diagrams led the authorities to conclude that if the instructions were employed, the chemicals would be encased within a small bomb that could be placed inside the vents of air conditioning systems. A forensics report described the chemicals as toxic and noted that they could be manufactured easily, using local products. [2] Moroccan sources allege that bombs of this nature have been used in Russia and Afghanistan. [2]

Subsequent to this discovery, the police conducted several raids of other cell members’ residences and found large sums of money, as well as bank records with information on bank accounts in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The Moroccan police continue to investigate and are questioning individuals suspected of association with militant Salafi Jihadi affiliates, which may be connected to al-Qaeda. The Moroccan government has yet to indicate whether this specific cell is directly linked to al-Qaeda or whether it is a local cell of a domestic Moroccan Islamist terror organization.

Following these investigations, a Moroccan newspaper concluded that “al-Qaeda is now seeking to set up and entrench terrorist cells in the Arab Maghreb and in the African Sahel countries.” [3] The article mentions that a crackdown on terrorist operations in Europe has caused a transfer of these operations to North and Sub-Saharan Africa. It also states that interrogations of detained Moroccan terrorist suspects have revealed that al-Qaeda, working under the direction of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, is planning to “unify action in Morocco and in Algeria, as part of a project called the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arab Maghreb Land.” [3]

Although specific information has yet to be disclosed by the Moroccan authorities regarding the CW diagrams, the revelations of terrorist interest in CW are not surprising. In the last two years the Internet has seen increased proliferation of postings on Jihadi and al-Qaeda websites that provide details on the manufacture of various chemical agents, including the toxin ricin, hydrogen sulfide, and a variety of poisons made of household items.

Morocco is not the only Arab country dealing with possible terrorist interest in chemical and biological weapons (CBW). Also in November, the Saudi Arabian Ministerial Council enacted new criminal code provisions that make possessing, manufacturing, or storing of CBW in the Kingdom punishable by 20 years in prison and a fine of 1 million Riyals ($267,000). [4]

SOURCES:
[1] “Scattered Terrorist Cell was Preparing New Types of Terrorist Operations,” Al-Ahdath Al-Maghribiyah, November 30, 2005.
[2] “Moroccan Terrorist Cell Planned to Produce Toxic Gases,” Al-Ahdath al-Maghribiyah, November 30, 2005, FBIS document GMP20051130710034.
[3] The Arab Maghreb countries include Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The African Sahel countries include Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. Abdelkamel Issaoui, “Al-Qaeda Wants to Setup Cells in North Africa,” Rabat Al-Alam, December 29, 2005.
[4] “The Saudi Regime Bans Chemical Weapons and Imposes a 20 Year Sentence on Violators,” al-Safinat Jihadi Website, November 30, 2005; “Saudi Shura Council Endorses Ban on Chemical Weapons,” Bahrain News Agency, October 2, 2005.