Mohammed VI: Morocco at risk of terror attacks

Moroccan King warns his country is potential target of terror attacks similar to Agliers’ deadly bombings.

RABAT - Morocco risks attacks similar to the "odious terrorist" bombings that struck Algeria, King Mohammed VI warned in a message Friday to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"We believe that your sister nation, Morocco, is also among the targets...", the king said in the message of condolence over Wednesday's suicide bombings in Algiers.

"We are convinced that the security of our neighbour, our sister Algeria, is an integral part of the security of Morocco, even the stability of the Maghreb region and in a wider sense of North Africa, of the southwestern Mediterranean and the Sahel and Sahara regions," he said.

Two suicide car bombings in Algiers on Wednesday killed 33 people and injured more than 220. They were claimed by Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

Those attacks came only a day after three suicide bombers blew themselves up and a fourth was killed by police in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, fueling regional fears of a resurgence in militant activity following crackdowns by north African governments.

Mohammed VI expressed his "strong condemnation" of the attacks in Algiers, which he termed "odious terrorist acts that go against all religions and all laws.

"We are all targets, and all those in the world who believe in religious values and in democratic norms, especially those advocating Islam, today constitute a potential target," he said.