Morocco Arrests Frenchman Linked to Suicide Blasts
Moroccan authorities arrested a French national Tuesday suspected of involvement in the May 16 suicide bombings in Casablanca that killed 43 people, the official MAP news agency said. Quoting sources close to the investigation, the agency said Robert Richard Antoine-Pierre, who used the aliases Lhaj and Abu Abderrahmane suggesting that he converted to Islam, was arrested in the northern city of Tangiers. Thirty-one people were killed in the attacks along with 12 suicide bombers who almost simultaneously targeted five sites in the sprawling city, including a Spanish restaurant, a five-star hotel and a Jewish community center. Morocco, a staunch U.S. ally, said the suicide bombers had links with international terrorism and that details would be given once investigations are complete. A government source told Reuters the Frenchman was a 31-year-old from the Lyon area who married a Moroccan and settled in Tangiers six years ago, and has two children of French nationality. Full Story