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Salafia Jihadia
Salafia Jihidia is an Islamic Terrorist organization that was established in Morocco, during the mid to late 1990’s. The organization is affiliated with al-Qaeda and is active in Northern Africa and Spain. The group’s main goals are to “overthrow impious Arab governments” and stop countries from supporting corrupt regimes using violent Jihad as their main tool. Salafia Jihidia is the largest terrorist organization in Morocco, and they have ties to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). The organization typically recruits locals living in poverty in the suburbs of Morocco. The organization is decentralized. In fact, the former U.S. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet described the group having many “small, local and autonomous cells” that often get guidance from Iraq’s Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This organization is known for their involvement in a coordinated suicide bombing in Casablanca, Morocco on May 16, 2003. Members of Salafia Jihadia have also been charged with local crimes, such as arson, petty crime, kidnapping, drug dealing and murder. Some believe that the high unemployment rate in Morocco has contributed to the increased number of young men who are being recruited into these militant Islamic groups.

Name origination
There are two different explanations for the organization’s name origination. Some allege that the name Salafia Jihadia was created by the Moroccan Government as a phrase that describes the many different Salafia groups that operate in Morocco. Salafia stems from the word Salafi, an Arabic word that describes a follower of an Islamic Movement. Following the Gulf War in 1991, Salafia Jihadia was also the name of the “larger Wahabi jihadist doctrine exported to the rest of the Arab world by Saudi Arabian radicals”. Although this organization is established on an extreme version of Islam, most Moroccans follow the moderate Malekite version of Islam.

Mohammed al Fizazi – Key Leader
Fizazi was born in the late 1940’s in Tangiers, Morocco. He later moved to Casablanca. Fizazi was trained and instructed by doctrine in Saudi Arabia. The majority of Moroccans believed in the Malekite, a moderate form of Islam, however, when Fizazi returned from Saudi Arabia, he began spreading his new ideology. Fizazi gradually became more and more extreme in his ideology and openly supported Osama Bin Laden. In 1999, Mohamed Fizazi became the Imam, an Arabic term to describe a worship leader of a mosque. Fizazi was convicted for his involvement in the Casablanca suicide bombings. It is alleged that he recruited many of his followers to participate as suicide bombers in the Casablanca attacks. The majority of the suicide bombers who were involved in the Casablanca bombings were members of Salafia Jihidia. Fizazi has connections to a number of terrorist attacks and participants, including some who were involved in the 9/11 attack, the Madrid Bombings in 2004 and the Casablanca Bombings in 2003. His affiliates include Casablanca participants, Hasan El Haski, Jamal Zougam and Abdelaziz Benyaich.

Abdelaziz Benyaich
Abdelaziz Benyaich was involved in the Casablanca bombings, but he also influenced the Madrid bombings in 2004 with his recruitment of Jamal Zougam. Benyaich was born in 1966 and was described as a normal teenager in High School who dated and became wealthy in real estate. After Benyaich traveled often to Spain, Britain and France his family noticed that he wouldn’t go out as much and became more dedicated to the Islamic religion. Benyaich’s two younger brothers Salaheddin and Abdullah, were also Islamic fighters. Jamal Benyaich claims that his brothers became radicalized while they were in Europe. According to Moroccan officials Abdelaziz Benyaich recruited tangier native Jamal Zougam to join an al-Qaeda cell while in Spain. Abdelaziz’s wife Alice, a French native left him in 2002 and when he followed his family to France, the French police deported him. Abdelaziz’s brother says he never recovered from that and his involvement in militant Islam accelerated. Abdelaziz was also part of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, which is also affiliated with al-Qaeda. Abdelaziz fled the day after the Casablanca bombings, but was arrested in Algeciras, Spain by Spanish police. Moroccan officials say he had a plane ticket to fly to Tehran, Iran. Abdelaziz was found to be the source of the cell phone detonators design that was used in the Madrid bombing. Investigators revealed that Abdelaziz hired an electronics expert to develop a detonator that would set off an explosion from receiving a phone call or setting the phone’s alarm. Abdelaziz’s second-oldest brother Salaheddin fought in Bosnia in 1996 and lost an eye during battle. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his involvement in the Casablanca attacks. Abdelaziz’s other brother Abdullah was killed in Afghanistan in 2001 during the American bombing in Tora Bora.

Casablanca Bombings
The Casablanca bombings took place on May 16, 2003 and were the deadliest terrorist attack that has taken place in Morocco. The coordinated attacks resulted in over 100 injuries and 33 civilian deaths. There were a total of 45 causalities, including those 12 suicide bombers who detonated the bombs. There were five different target locations within Casablanca, including a private Spanish club called Casa de Espana, the Israeli Alliance Club, a Jewish cemetery, the Belgian consulate and an international hotel. All five attacks occurred almost simultaneously, within 30 minutes. After the attacks, interest and membership in the organization increased. There were a total of 14 suicide bombers, but two decided to back out at the last minute. Twelve of the fourteen suicide bombers died in the attacks. Of the 14 bombers, all of them were from a suburb of Casablanca, called Sidi Moumen and between 20 to 24 years old. On May 16, 2003 the Farah Maghreb Hotel (formerly known as the Safir Hotel) in Casablanca, Morocco was attacked by two suicide bombers. This was one of five attacks that were nearly simultaneously occurring in Casablanca. One of the suicide bombers was stopped by a security guard. The first suicide bomber was killed in the explosion and the second bomber was captured by Moroccan police. The second bomb was not detonated. This international hotel is popular amongst businesspeople. At least 8 people died in the suicide explosion and many were injured. The explosion did cause property damage to the hotel. On May 16, 2003 in the second of five attacks, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the Jewish Cultural Center in Casablanca, Morocco. This attack targeted civilians and private property. The bomb also damaged the building of the Cultural Center. The building was closed at the time of the attack. On May 16, 2003 the third attack of a series of the five occurred. Two suicide bombers detonated the bombs on their bodies in the street, after they were denied entry into the restaurant. The explosion occurred in front of a Jewish-owned Italian Restaurant, which was also located right in front of the Belgian Consulate in Casablanca, Morocco. Two guards of the Belgian Consulate were killed during the explosion. There were a number of fatalities and many injuries resulting from the explosion. There were a total of three suicide bombers attempting to enter the restaurant, during the explosion two of the bombers died. On May 16, 2003 this attack was one of five simultaneous attacks in Morocco. A suicide bomber detonated their device near a Jewish cemetery, but was some distance from the cemetery. On May 16, 2003 suicide bombers denoted themselves in a Spanish Club called “Casa de Espana” in Casablanca, Morocco. The target in this attack was civilians. This attack had the largest number of fatalities out of the five executed attacks. At least 19 people were killed. Hundreds of people were arrested for suspected connections with the string of attacks. Eleven suspected members of the organization were arrested in Ceuta in December 2006. Judge Baltasar Garzón, a high court judge in Spain, released four of the suspects, but had the other four imprisoned in Madrid pending trial. Of those arrested, eighty-seven were tried in court and were suspected to have been members of Salafia Jihadia. It was not confirmed whether the perpetrators responsible for the attack had links with Al-Qa`ida. 31 members of Salafia Jihadia were found responsible for the Casablanca bombings and 10 were given the death penalty (Yussef Fikri, Mohamed Damir, Saleh Zarli, Abderrazak Faouzi, Kamal Hanuichi, Bouchaib Guermach, Lakbir Kutubi, Buchaib Mghader, Omar Maaruf and Laarbi Daqiq). The organization’s spiritual leader Mohamed Fizazi, along with Abdelkrim Chadli, and Omar Haddouchi were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Miloudi Zakaria was sentenced to life in prison. On August 19, 2003, a Casablanca criminal court sentenced four people involved in this incident to death (Hassan Taousi, Mohamed El Omari, Rachid Jalil, and Yassine Lahnechearly). Although most of Salafia Jihadia’s top leaders were captured soon after the Casablanca bombings. The organization still poses a threat to Northern Africa and Spain because of the decentralized structure and its close relationships with other regional terrorist organizations.
 * Incident Summary – International Hotel Attack
 * Incident Summary – Jewish Cultural Center Attack
 * Incident Summary – Jewish-owned Italian Restaurant “The Positano” Attack
 * Incident Summary – Jewish Cemetery Attack
 * Incident Summary – Spanish Club “Casa de Espana” (Social Club and Restaurant)

=Investigation of 2004 Madrid bombings
= Investigations of 2004 Madrid Bombings suggest that members of Salafia Jihadia had some involvement in the train bombing where cell phones were used as the detonation devices. The investigation uncovered that this attack was guided by an “al-Qaeda inspired terrorist cell”. Spanish authorities questioned many Moroccans, including members of Salafia Jihadia about their involvement in the incident. One of the investigator’s prime suspects was a Tangier native named Jamal Zougam. Zougam was spotted on one of the trains before the bombs were detonated and he was accused of planting at least one of the bombs. In addition to participating in the attack, Zougam is alleged to have planned the Madrid attacks. Zougam had close ties to Salafia Jihadia and allegedly shared a safe house with Abdelaziz Benyaich, who participated in the Casablanca bombings. According to Moroccan officials Benyaich also recruited Zougam while they were both in Spain. According to a private investigator from France, Zougam also had an alleged meeting with Salafia Jihadia’s key leader Mohamed Fizazi in 2001. Fizazi also preached his anti-Western Islamic doctrine in a mosque in Tangier. Zougam and his half brother Muhammad Chaoui both grew up in Tangier, but moved to Spain with their mother in 1983. Both Zougam and Chaoui were arrested and charged with murder for their involvement in the Madrid attacks.