- A Moroccan court has sentenced 18 people to jail terms ranging between three and 15 years for their alleged involvement in a series of bombings in May 2003 in the country’s economic capital Casablanca, local reports have said.
National news agency, MAP said Saad El Housseini, the chemist who put together the bombs, was jailed for 15 years, while seventeen others received sentences ranging from three and 15 years. He was charged with raising and managing funds, and inciting on preparing terror acts.
A former resident of Spain, Mr El Housseini allegedly spent time in Afghanistan in 2002 where he reportedly received training in Afghanistan on the handling of light arms and the manufacturing of explosives and street lights.
He was also allegedly involved in the 2004 Madrid bombings. In December 2007, he was interrogated by a Spanish judge in charge of investigating the bombings.
The six near-simultaneous bombings in Casablanca in 2003 killed 45 people including 12 suicide bombers. Morocco jailed hundreds of suspected militants under the anti-terror laws passed in response to those attacks.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.