CASABLANCA - Defendants in the trial of 33 men charged in connection with the May suicide bombings here claimed Monday that videocassettes allegedly extolling holy war were simple religious tapes.
Among the 33 people standing trial over the five almost simultaneous attacks on May 16 in which 44 people were killed including 12 of the assailants are six "reserve suicide bombers" charged with preparing attacks in Essaouira, Agadir and Marrakesh.
The Casablanca Criminal Court questioned the six - who deny any involvement in the bombings targetting places frequented by foreigners and Moroccan Jews - about videocassettes they allegedly watched before the attacks blamed on the radical Islamist group Salafia Jihadia.
The prosecution claimed the tapes extolled jihad, or holy war, in Chechnya, Palestine and Afghanistan and contained statements by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and remarks on Jewish property in Morocco.
The six claimed that the videocassettes were "simple religious cassettes."
"When I heard that there had been attacks in Casablanca, I was shocked," one of the six, Khalil Mourassil, told the court.
"If I had known that they were preparing attacks, I would have turned them (his friends) in," he said.
They were also asked about searches allegedly carried out on the Internet relating to the manufacture of explosives.
At the request of the defence, the court adjourned until Friday the cases of 31 other defendants including Mohamed Fizazi, said to be the chief ideologist of Salfia Jihadia.
A second trial of 29 defendants suspected of belonging to Salafia Jihadia and of "inciting violence" opened in the city of Fez, 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Rabat, local court sources said.
A third case concerning 19 men suspected of belonging to the radical movement Al Hijra wa Attakfir was due to open in Taza, 320 kilometres (200 miles) east of Rabat, also Monday, local authorities said.
All the defendants appearing in the three separate cases are being tried under anti-terrorist legislation that came into effect in June this year which increases the penalties for voluntary homicide, sabotage and attacks on state security.
Those found guilty of murder, whether premeditated or not, face the death penalty.
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