Morocco Café Blast Kills 14 in Widely Condemned ‘Terrorist’ Act

April 29, 2011

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Morocco Café Blast Kills 14 in Widely Condemned `Terrorist' Act

By Donna Abu-Nasr and m Fam - Apr 28, 2011 8:05 PM CT

A blast ripped through a restaurant in downtown Marrakech, Morocco, killing at

least 14 people, including Europeans, in what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary

Clinton called a " terrorist attack. "

" Acts of terrorism must not be tolerated wherever and whenever they occur, "

Clinton said in a statement released in Washington last night. French President

Nicolas Sarkozy also condemned the act of terrorism and United Nations

Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon expressed his " firm rejection of the use of

indiscriminate violence against innocent civilians. "

" Killing innocent people in this way could be nothing but an act of terror, "

Karim Taj, chief of staff for the North African nation's communications

minister, said in an interview yesterday. " It's too early to confirm that the

attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. "

The attack, which injured about 20 people according to Taj, took place at the

Argana Restaurant in a square that is a tourist destination. Six French

nationals were among the dead in the cafe, Al Arabiya television reported,

without saying where it got the information.

" Everything was covered in blood. The scene is horrifying, " Tarek Bozid, a

33-year-old photographer and Marrakech resident who went to the scene, said in a

telephone interview. " Tables were broken and glass was shattered. "

Morocco's MADEX Free Float Index (MOSEMDX) fell as much as 3.5 percent and

declined 1.6 percent, the most since April 1, to 9,694.51 at the 3:30 p.m. close

of trading in Casablanca yesterday.

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