Rabat – The terrorist threat hangs over the whole Maghreb region, particularly given that ISIS has already set foot in Libya, said director of Central Bureau for Judiciary Investigations (BCIJ), Abdelhalk Khiame.
The danger does not only concern Morocco, but also “Algeria, which is already suffering from the threat of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in the south of its territory, in addition to a problem created from nothingness by this country in the Sahara,” Khiame said in an interview published Thursday by the daily “L’Economiste.”
“The investigations carried out in this respect revealed the involvement of separatists in terrorist and criminal organizations,” he said, stressing that “Morocco is taking all necessary measures to ensure its security. But the lack of cooperation and coordination with our Algerian neighbors is an opportunity for terrorist organizations to settle in the region.”
“We must be clear: the security of our two countries depends on coordination between the Moroccan and Algerian intelligence services,” Khiame said.
Referring to the latest terrorist cell dismantled in Morocco, he pointed out that the latter, which was at a very advanced stage in terms of logistics and arsenal of weapons and explosives, planned to create a “climate of psychosis within population”.
Concerning Morocco’s strategy to combat indoctrination and recruitment via social networks, the director of BCIJ noted that the legislation is clear, anyone who advocates terrorist acts will be prosecuted.
Regarding the risks posed by the return of Moroccans from combat zones, Khiame said that anyone who joined the areas of tension could be prosecuted under a law adopted by Morocco in 2014.
