RABAT: A Moroccan parliamentarian has been shot dead in Casablanca, local media reported on Wednesday.

Abdellatif Merdas was gunned down late Tuesday near his home in the well-off southern district of Californie.

The 53-year-old was in his official car when he was hit three times by shotgun fire, private news websites reported. Hit in the head, he succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards.

Local news websites showed photos of the scene and a car with broken windows, surrounded by police officers. They said one or more attackers fled in a foreign-registered vehicle.

Moroccan police said on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested.

“This individual with a criminal record is suspected of an alleged link to the armed homicide that killed a Member of Parliament Tuesday night,” said a statement carried by the official MAP agency.

Merdas was a member of the liberal Constitutional Union (UC) party, representing the Ben Ahmed district 60 kilometres south of Casablanca.

Shootings are rare in Morocco, where there are few illegal firearms, although knife attacks and petty crime are more common. </s> A Moroccan Member of Parliament representing the Constitutional Union has been shot to death with a riffle in front of his residence in Casablanca . Abdellatif Merdass, an MP for the opposition Constitutional Union, was gunned down outside his home in Casablanca , Abdellah Ferdous told Anadolu Agency.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Oak Ridge Observer. </s> Rabat - A Moroccan parliamentarian has been shot dead in Casablanca, local media reported Wednesday.

Abdellatif Merdas was gunned down late Tuesday near his home in the well-off southern district of Californie.

The 53-year-old was in his official car when he was hit three times by shotgun fire, private news websites reported.

They showed photos of the scene and the car with broken windows.

Merdas was a member of the liberal Constitutional Union (UC) party, representing the Ben Ahmed district 60km south of Casablanca.

Shootings are rare in Morocco, where there are few illegal firearms.

By Wednesday morning, the authorities had not commented on the incident. </s> Moroccan police say a suspect has been arrested after member of Constitutional Union party is gunned down near his home.

Abdellatif Merdas, a Moroccan member of parliament, has been shot dead in Casablanca, according to police. 

 

The 53-year-old, a politician with the liberal Constitutional Union party, was gunned down late on Tuesday near his home in the well-off southern district of Californie.

 

His assassins fled the scene, but police said on Wednesday they had arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of links to the assault.

A raid on the suspect's home came up with two shotguns similar to the one used in the attack, police said. 

 

The assault is believed to be criminally motivated. 

 

Initial investigations suggest that the suspect had previously threatened Merdas with death due to alleged personal differences, police said.

Merdas, who represented the Ben Ahmed district 60km south of the coastal city of Casablanca, was in his official car when he was hit three times by shotgun fire, private news websites reported.

Hit in the head, he succumbed to his wouds shortly afterwards.

Local news websites showed photos of the scene and a car with broken windows, surrounded by police officers.

 

They said one or more attackers fled in a foreign-registered vehicle. </s> RABAT, March 8 (Reuters) - A Moroccan lawmaker was shot dead in front of his home on Tuesday night in Casablanca in what appeared to be a personal dispute.

Abdellatif Mirdas, 53, member of parliament for the liberal Constitutional Union Party, was shot three times in his car, according to a police statement carried by MAP state news agency.

A 27-year-old man suspected of being linked to the murder was arrested, the statement said. It said he had threatened Mirdas over a "personal dispute of a private nature".

Almost five months after elections in October, Morocco is caught in a political deadlock between its Islamist party prime minister and coalition partners over the formation of a new government he will lead. (Reporting by Samia Errazzouki; Editing by Patrick Markey and Alison Williams) </s> RABAT (Reuters) - A Moroccan lawmaker was shot dead in front of his home on Tuesday night in Casablanca in what appeared to be a personal dispute.

Abdellatif Mirdas, 53, member of parliament for the liberal Constitutional Union Party, was shot three times in his car, according to a police statement carried by MAP state news agency.

A 27-year-old man suspected of being linked to the murder was arrested, the statement said. It said he had threatened Mirdas over a “personal dispute of a private nature”.

Mirdas’ party condemned the killing.

Almost five months after elections in October, Morocco is caught in a political deadlock between its Islamist party prime minister and coalition partners over the formation of a new government he will lead.

(This version of the story was refiled to fix dateline to RABAT, no change to text) </s> RABAT, March 8 (Reuters) - A Moroccan lawmaker was shot and killed in front of his home on Tuesday night in Casablanca, according to a statement from his political party and local media.

Security officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on motivations. It was not clear whether the lawmaker had been targetted specifically but killings of political figures in Morocco are rare.

The victim, Abdellatif Mirdas, 53, parliamentary member of the liberal Constitutional Union Party representing the Settat district, was returning to his home in Casablanca when he was shot in his car, according to reports in local media.

"The Constitutional Union denounces this despicable criminal act against one of our leaders," the party said in a statement, adding it hopes an investigation will reveal the perpetrators of the "crime."

An individual with a judicial record suspected of being connected to the murder has been arrested, according to a statement from the General Directorate of National Security released on MAP state news agency.

Almost five months after elections in October, Morocco is caught in a political deadlock between its Islamist party prime minister and coalition partners over the formation of a new government he will lead. (Reporting by Samia Errazzouki; editing by Patrick Markey) </s> Three men held in Marrakech as suspicions grow that Islamists were behind killing of two Scandinavian women

Danish intelligence services are investigating a video circulating on social media they believe could show the murder of two Scandinavian women killed in Morocco as fears mount that the tourists were killed by extremists linked to Islamic State.

The Danish intelligence service, the PET, at first said it had authenticated the video but later rowed back, saying it was still being “examined”. The latest statement came as Moroccan authorities arrested three more suspects over the killings in the Atlas mountains, which have sent shockwaves through a popular tourist destination that has been relatively untouched by Islamist attacks.

The Moroccan government spokesman, Mustapha El Khalfi, described the killings as a “criminal and terrorist act”.

Investigators have released pictures of the three fugitives, who were identified as Rachid Afatti, Ouaziad Younes and Ejjoud Abdessamad. The three men were arrested in Marrakech as they tried to board a bus to the popular tourist resort of Agadir, according to a national security spokesman, Boubker Sabik, who said police were investigating whether they had terrorist affiliations.

Investigators were in the process of “verifying the terrorist motive, which is supported by the evidence and the findings of inquiries”, the central judicial investigations office said.

The men were seized with three long machete-like knives, a shorter blade, a slingshot and several mobile phones. Another suspect arrested in Marrakech on Tuesday had affiliations to an extremist group, Moroccan authorities said, and had apparently identified the others involved.

Pictures of the three men arrested on the bus also appear to show at least one man bearing a striking similarity to one of four individuals who had recently posted on social media declaring his allegiance to Isis while posing under the group’s flag.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Composite image of the three arrested men, Rachid Afatti, left, Ouaziad Younes, centre, and Ejjoud Abdessamad. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The discovery of machetes with handles wrapped with electrical tape under the seats of the bus will raise questions of whether they planned a second assault, perhaps in Agadir.

The bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were found on Monday in an isolated area near Imlil, which is on the route to Toubkal, north Africa’s highest peak and a popular hiking destination.

According to some local media reports the killers had camped near their victims, about four miles’ hike from the nearest town, and fled the scene after the attack. The bodies were found on Monday by two French women who were hiking near the remote spot where Jespersen and Ueland had pitched their tent.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, left, and Maren Ueland. Photograph: vg

“We took a picture to show the police where we found them and went down again,” one of the witnesses told the Norwegian tabloid VG. “We warned everyone we saw [in the nearby town of] Imlil from going there. I did not want more to see what we had seen.”

In an earlier statement PET said Moroccan authorities had indicated that the killings may be related to Isis. That speculation was fuelled by claims on Morocco’s 2M television network that investigators had linked the first of the four people arrested over the murder to the terror group.

Moroccan television broadcast an interview with the brother of one of the three men arrested on the bus who suggested his sibling had been “brainwashed” by militants.

“He had no education and was brainwashed,” said the brother adding that his sibling had disappeared a week ago. “He was a normal guy, but was radicalised. What happened has nothing to do with Islam.”

The latest claims over the motive came as fresh details emerged of the two women’s last days. They had stayed in a hostel where they encountered a local mountain guide, Rachid Imerhade, who said he had cautioned them about camping alone on their planned ascent of the Toubkal mountain.

Moroccan media outlets reported that investigators also had video surveillance footage showing the suspects putting up a tent near the victims’ tent and leaving the area after the killings.

The murders can be considered “politically motivated and thus an act of terror”, the Danish prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said on Thursday. He said “there are still dark forces that want to fight our values” and “we must not give in”.

In Norway, the prime minister, Erna Solberg, said terrorism “is not the only lead that is being investigated in Morocco” but said the case still “emphasises the importance of combating violent extremism”.

Jespersen had posted on Facebook about her upcoming trip before leaving. “Dear friends, I’m going to Morocco in December. Any of you guys who’s around by then or any mountain friends who knows something about Mount Toubkal?”

In the videos that have been circulating, a voice can reportedly be heard speaking of the “enemies of Allah” several times and referring to “revenge for our brothers in Hajin”, referring to the last stronghold of Isis in Syria, which fell a few days ago.

The two victims were friends from the University of South-Eastern Norway, where they were studying together. “What we know is that they were on a month-long, private holiday in Morocco. Our thoughts go to the families,” the university said.

The killings have prompted concerns about the impact on Morocco’s tourist sector, which accounts for 10% of national income, as the kingdom’s relative security has been a major selling point. </s> Paris terror attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam and an accomplice have been guilty of attempted murder over shots fired at police they sought to avoid arrest in a Brussels suburb.

The court in Brussels handed both Abdeslam and Sofiane Ayari the maximum 20-year sentence.

It said the “terror character” was clearly established in the March 2016 shooting, four months after the Paris attacks that killed 130 in November 2015.

Court president Luc Hennart said the two chose not to attend the reading of the verdict and sentencing. Abdeslam attended the opening day of the trial in February but has refused to co-operate since. He is being held in a prison in northern France.

It is unclear when he will face trial over the Paris attacks.

The conclusion of the case at Brussels’ ornate palace of justice took place amid tight security set up by the armed forces and police.

Abdeslam was close to being arrested in a hideout when he and Ayari fled, while another man sprayed gunfire at police and was killed. Three officers were wounded.

Three days later, Abdeslam was captured in Brussels. Four days after that, extremists struck in the Belgian capital, killing 32 people in bomb attacks at the airport and on the subway system.
Abdellatif Midras, a member of the Moroccan Parliament, is shot dead in Casablanca.