An Algerian Muslim fundamentalist arrested in Morocco for the killing of Spanish tourists has confessed he had been instructed to attack a synagogue in Casablanca, according to a report by the Moroccan news agency MAP.
Hamel Marzouk said he decided not to attack the synagogue because it was so heavily guarded, and instead shot up tombs in a Jewish cemetery, according to the report, which was monitored by the European Jewish Congress.
No day or time of the cemetery attack was reported.
Elan Steinberg, director of the World Jewish Congress said he had no other confirmation of such an incident.
He said the arrest appears to be tied to the Islamic fundamentalist movement “that has ripped Algeria,” and not to Morocco’s recently established ties with Israel.
Marzouk had been arrested in connection with the Aug. 24 attack on the Atlas Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco, in which two Spanish tourists were killed in a shooting incident.
Marzouk confessed to the plan to attack the synagogue during the course of his interrogation, according to the report. Marzouk said he was instructed to attack the synagogue by Abedelila Ziad, a Moroccan resident of France, the report said.
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