Tag: Moroccan

Moroccan saffron farmers battle knockoff spices

MOROCCAN (AFP)- Saffron farmers in southern Morocco have long taken pride in the coveted spice they produce from the purple-petalled Crocus sativus, but some are worried knockoff versions are threatening their business. “The pure saffron of Taliouine is the best in the world, according to experts,” local grower Barhim Afezzaa boasted, proudly noting his spice’s designation of origin (PDO) label. But the 51-year-old is worried that “counterfeit” crops are tarnishing Taliouine’s reputation and its PDO […]

Continue Reading →

Abdeslam: from pot-smoking delinquent to key terror suspect

by Mehdi Cherifia and Clare Byrne Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – In the Brussels neighborhood where he lived until his capture, Salah Abdeslam was known as a pot-smoking petty criminal whose former lawyer described him as having “the intelligence of an empty ashtray.” But the sole survivor of the jihadist team that wrought carnage in Paris in November 2015 — who goes on trial in Belgium on Monday over the shootout — remains something of an […]

Continue Reading →

Suspect admits killings in Finnish stabbing spree

by Rebecca Libermann HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — The main suspect in last week’s stabbing attack in Finland admitted Tuesday to killing two people and injuring eight others but denied any intent to murder, his lawyer said. The Turku district court placed Abderrahman Mechkah, an 18-year-old Moroccan citizen, in formal custody after he made his statement to the court via video link from hospital, where he is being treated for a police gunshot wound to the […]

Continue Reading →

Spain attacks: What we know about the suspects

  MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The suspected jihadists behind Spain’s twin terror attacks are thought to have formed a cell in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains where they allegedly planned large-scale assaults. Moroccans and a Spaniard The suspects are all youths — most of them Moroccans who lived in Ripoll, a town in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region where both of the attack sites were also located. Police have launched a manhunt for Younes Abouyaaqoub, […]

Continue Reading →

Brussels bomber was Moroccan national aged 36: prosecutor

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Belgian authorities on Wednesday identified the bomber killed by soldiers in a busy Brussels rail station as a 36-year-old Moroccan national. “The assailant has been identified as O.Z., born 20 January 1981 and of Moroccan nationality,” spokesperson Eric Van Der Sypt said at a press conference after Tuesday’s attack. “He was not known to the authorities for any terrorism connection,” Van Der Sypt said, declining to give the man’s full name […]

Continue Reading →