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French Senator Thanks Morocco for Helping France Avoid ‘Bloodbath’ on Easter Day

Morocco handed essential data to France, enabling the European country to prevent a terrorist attack in a church by a French woman of Moroccan origin on Easter Day.

French Senator Christian Cambon thanked Morocco after it helped France to avoid a terrorist attack in a church on Easter Day.

Cambon, who is also the president of the Morocco-France friendship group, spoke during an interview about 

the security cooperation between Rabat and Paris following a meeting between France-Morocco interparliamentary friendship group held on April 6.

During the virtual meeting, the group discussed bilateral ties and cooperation in different fields.

Cambon said the meeting allowed him, as well as his colleagues from the French Senate, to thank Morocco and its intelligence services, including the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST).

The appreciation message comes after DGST provided France’s security services with essential data that enabled the European country to foil a planned terrorist attack in a church on Easter Day.

Through the data, France arrested a French woman of Moroccan origin. The woman, who was not known to the French intelligence services, had been radicalized and watching ISIS videos.

During her arrest, police found products for manufacturing explosives, including sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, and acetone.

Cambon said the security cooperation allowed France to avoid a “real bloodbath in our country on Easter Day.”

He said that the mere thought of imagining what could have happened sent him “shivers down his spine.”

“It must be remembered that cooperation between Rabat and Paris in the fight against terrorism is very dense and very advanced,” he said.

Morocco’s government has intensified its efforts in the face of the terrorist scourge.

Officials in Morocco’s intelligence have always warned that no country in the world can claim to be safe from terrorist threats.

Head of Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), Cherkaoui Haboub, recently discussed the country’s approach against terrorism.

He said that Morocco is not safe from terrorist threats.

Morocco introduced the BCIJ in 2015 as part of its efforts to counter-terrorism.

Since 2002, the country’s security services dismantled 2,009 terror cells and arrested 3,535 people for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities.

Morocco’s services also foiled about 500 “bloody” terror plots in recent years.

Morocco does not only collaborate with France in terms of counterterrorism cooperation. The intelligence services in Morocco have been working with international partners against terrorism.

Earlier this year, Morocco also handed essential data to the US on a former American soldier facing terrorism charges.

DGST provided the data to the US on James Bridges, who was arrested for attempting to assist ISIS attack American forces in the Middle East.

Bridges is also believed to have provided training to ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, such as the 9/11 Memorial.

The US has repeatedly applauded Morocco’s counterterrorism efforts.

In June 2020, the State Department’s annual Country Report on Terrorism commended Morocco’s approach in fighting terrorism.

The report said Morocco’s approach is essential in mitigating terrorism risks in the MENA region.

 

Source: Morocco World News.

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