A Moroccan cleric accused of links to an extremist group implicated in May suicide bombings in Casablanca denied the charges Thursday and told a court he did not want to be extradited to Morocco, his lawyer said. Mohamed Rafik was one of three people arrested Saturday in northern Italy. He was accused of being tied to the extremist movement Salafiya Jihadia, which Moroccan officials have linked to the May 16 bombings that killed 45, including 12 attackers. The three men also are accused of having collected money for terrorists in Morocco. Defense attorney Fausta Viola said Thursday’s preliminary hearing at an appeals court in Brescia was the first step in a lengthy process, and she was waiting for clarification of the charges against Rafik from Morocco and the Italian court. “The accusations made at the moment are very vague, there are no documents from Morocco, it is more a rough sketch of an accusation,” she said. Full Story
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