Rabat – “Algeria refuses intelligence coordination with Morocco,” stated Head of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), AbdelHak El Khiyame.
In an interview with AlYaoum 24, El Khiyame said that “Morocco’s hand is always outstretched for intelligence cooperation, but Algeria did not want to collaborate in the intelligence coordination.” He went on to add that Morocco has initiated discussions with Algeria regarding more cooperation between the two countries on numerous occasions, but Algeria has refused each time.
When questioned about the benefit to Morocco of providing other countries with intelligence assistance, El Khiyame commented that “Morocco has nothing to lose helping other countries to avoid potential terrorist attacks which can lead to the killing of innocents.”
“The terrorist danger is threatening the whole world, and all must lend a helping hand to fight it. We cooperate with any country, including the countries that consider Morocco as their enemy,” El Khiyame added.
He continued, highlighting countries Morocco has assisted in this manner, saying that “Morocco has provided important intelligence information to the United States of America, France, Italy, Denmark, Spain and a group of Arab and African countries.”
Regarding the members of cells who were planning to join the Islamic State (IS), El Khiyame said that “since the establishment of the BCIJ, 27 people were arrested for planning to join IS in Syria and Libya.”
Earlier this month, following the dismantlement of a terrorist IS cell in possession of weapons in the city of El Jadida, El Khiyame said that the uncovered weapons “entered Morocco via Algeria, but that their delivery was coordinated from an IS branch in Libya.”
El Khiyame announced in December 2016, that his agency had managed to thwart 341 terrorist attacks over the past 14 years. He noted that since 2002, the BCIJ had dismantled 167 cells, including 46 belonging to ISIS. 2,963 suspected terrorists, 277 of whom already had criminal records, had been arrested and referred to the judiciary courts.
