Editor arrested for airing Al-Qaeda video

RABAT — Moroccan police yesterday arrested the editor of an independent news website for airing a video posted by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb that incites “acts of terrorism” in the kingdom. Ali Anouzla, the director of Lakome’s Arabic version, was arrested mid-morning, according to several journalists at the popular website, with police also seizing computer equipment from his office. The arrest follows the publication by Lakome of “a video attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), containing a clear call and a direct incitement to commit acts of terrorism” in Morocco, the public prosecutor said in a statement.

“Appropriate legal procedures will be applied in light of the investigation,” the prosecutor added.
The 41-minute video, posted on the Internet last Thursday by AQIM and entitled “Morocco: the kingdom of corruption and despotism,” calls for jihad in the north African country and lashes out at King Mohamed VI, who is pictured being engulfed in flames.

It is thought to be the first of its kind singling out the Moroccan monarchy since AQIM, the jihadist network’s north African franchise, was created in 2007.

The YouTube version of the video was removed for breaching the site’s policy on violence. Lakome, a website which publishes in French and Arabic and often criticises the authorities, issued a statement condemning the arrest. It called the decision by the public prosecutor “excessive in more ways than one,” and insisted the website had clearly stated from the beginning that the video was “propaganda”.

“Even the act of broadcasting an AQIM video is a common practice among the international media,” Lakome said.
Anouzla is an experienced journalist formerly with pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat who is known for taking a critical position towards state institutions, including the monarchy, and has been prosecuted in the past.

By late afternoon he was still being questioned by police in Rabat, his lawyer Naima Guellaf said.
Lakome’s decision to carry a link to the video had already drawn sharp criticism from Morocco’s mostly pro-regime media.

French-language daily L’Opinion called it “totally reprehensible,” accusing the website of ensuring that a video message supporting terrorism “receives the widest possible audience.” — AFP.