Post by Admin on May 18, 2006 9:16:10 GMT
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The government accused a Moroccan of being involved in a triple car bombing in September that killed 60 people in a Shiite town in central Iraq and offered a reward for his arrest, while roadside bombs and shootings Tuesday killed eight people.
The U.S. military, meanwhile, said a soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in central Iraq, raising to at least 93 the number of American service members who died in October, the fourth deadliest month for the troops in the Iraq war.
The government identified the Moroccan suspect as Muhsen Khayber, also known as Abdul Rahim, and said he was allegedly involved in coordinated suicide bombings in Casablanca on May 16, 2003, that killed 32 people. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
Moroccan authorities blamed the Casablanca attack on al-Qaida, and launched a crackdown on fundamentalist suspects, arresting more than 5,000 people at the time.
The Iraqi government’s statement, which did not specify the reward, said Khayber moved to neighboring Syria in early 2004 and helped form cells of foreign terrorists there who agreed to fight in Iraq.
On Sept. 29, three suicide attackers exploded near-simultaneous car bombs in the heart of a bustling, mainly Shiite town of Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. In addition to the deaths, at least 70 people were injured.
Foreigners blamed for recent suicide bombings
Iraqi officials did not cite any evidence to link Khayber to the Balad attacks but have long maintained that foreign Islamic extremists play a major role in the wave of suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent months.
The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has purportedly called for attacks on Shiites, whom he considers heretics.
But Spanish authorities believe Khayber was part of a network linked to Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic extremist group based in northern Iraq, which recruited foreign fighters to go to Iraq to battle the U.S.-led coalition.
Arab media reported that Khayber was arrested in Syria in May 2004 and handed over to the Moroccans. Efforts to reach Moroccan authorities to confirm whether Khayber was in custody were unsuccessful.
However, a Moroccan analyst who attended school with Khayber, Abdellah Rami, said he doubted that he was in custody because he still sends money home to his two wives in the Moroccan city of Larache, where he was born in 1970.
“Khayber used to support the killings of Shiites in Pakistan or the killing of Christians, even before Sept. 11,” Rami said. “He became very animated in the discussions, very fanatic.”
U.S. forces recently have identified several suspected al-Qaida militants it has killed or captured in Iraq, often using their aliases.
The U.S. military, meanwhile, said a soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in central Iraq, raising to at least 93 the number of American service members who died in October, the fourth deadliest month for the troops in the Iraq war.
The government identified the Moroccan suspect as Muhsen Khayber, also known as Abdul Rahim, and said he was allegedly involved in coordinated suicide bombings in Casablanca on May 16, 2003, that killed 32 people. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
Moroccan authorities blamed the Casablanca attack on al-Qaida, and launched a crackdown on fundamentalist suspects, arresting more than 5,000 people at the time.
The Iraqi government’s statement, which did not specify the reward, said Khayber moved to neighboring Syria in early 2004 and helped form cells of foreign terrorists there who agreed to fight in Iraq.
On Sept. 29, three suicide attackers exploded near-simultaneous car bombs in the heart of a bustling, mainly Shiite town of Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. In addition to the deaths, at least 70 people were injured.
Foreigners blamed for recent suicide bombings
Iraqi officials did not cite any evidence to link Khayber to the Balad attacks but have long maintained that foreign Islamic extremists play a major role in the wave of suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent months.
The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has purportedly called for attacks on Shiites, whom he considers heretics.
But Spanish authorities believe Khayber was part of a network linked to Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic extremist group based in northern Iraq, which recruited foreign fighters to go to Iraq to battle the U.S.-led coalition.
Arab media reported that Khayber was arrested in Syria in May 2004 and handed over to the Moroccans. Efforts to reach Moroccan authorities to confirm whether Khayber was in custody were unsuccessful.
However, a Moroccan analyst who attended school with Khayber, Abdellah Rami, said he doubted that he was in custody because he still sends money home to his two wives in the Moroccan city of Larache, where he was born in 1970.
“Khayber used to support the killings of Shiites in Pakistan or the killing of Christians, even before Sept. 11,” Rami said. “He became very animated in the discussions, very fanatic.”
U.S. forces recently have identified several suspected al-Qaida militants it has killed or captured in Iraq, often using their aliases.