Jihad's Hidden Victim

When the smoke had cleared and the wreckage and bodies were being carted away, stunned Moroccans turned their attention to another casualty of the May 16 Casablanca terrorist bombings: the nation's sense of itself. Morocco has long tried to occupy a middle ground between its European and North American allies on one side and the conservative, Islam-dominated societies of fellow Arab countries. Now Moroccans fear they may have the worst of both worlds: the strain of jihadist militancy rooted in the affluent nations of the Middle East, and the vast, economically stricken populations from which al-Qaeda networks have so effectively recruited in the West.

Investigations last week into the five kamikaze attacks that rocked Morocco's economic capital revealed the 15 terrorists involved were all native sons — 20 to 24- year-old residents of the desperately poor neighborhood of Sidi Moumen in eastern Casablanca, one of many shanty towns that ring Moroccan cities. Testimony of one terrorist captured during the attack, and two others arrested in the following days, has allowed police to quickly unravel the plot and characters. Officials say most of the bombers were undereducated, unemployed and without hope of escaping Sidi Moumen's dilapidated, crowded, refuse-strewn streets — oases of despair where joblessness exceeds the estimated national rate of 20% and illiteracy runs over 50%. Such conditions are easily exploited by radical Islamist groups like the outlawed Salafia Jihadia and its offshoot Assirat al Moustaqim (Straight Path), which officials say recruited the bombers.

"That's a major contrast with Islamist networks in the Gulf and Middle East, which rely mostly on the educated, cultivated upper-middle and affluent classes for members," notes a French terrorism official. "The Casablanca attackers were closer to [convicted shoe bomber] Richard Reid."

To carry out the Casablanca attacks, Straight Path selected Sidi Moumen residents without police records or previous involvement with radical Islam, according to Moroccan authorities. The operatives were radicalized and trained for their suicide mission in a mere four months. Some had been sent abroad for instruction ahead of the strike — possibly to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Moroccan officials also tell TIME there's evidence some bombers may have visited Afghanistan, to receive guidance from al-Qaeda officials.

The result of that planning was a spree of five tightly synchronized bombings in Casablanca, killing 42 — including 12 of the bombers — and wounding over 100. One investigative find was a large cache of bomb-making materials in Sidi Moumen. Police have identified and are hunting for nine other Islamists tied to the attack, and have estab-lished that the direction and financing of the attack came from a senior al-Qaeda leader abroad.

None of this reassures Moroccans about the future. The goals of greater democracy and tolerance of all religions are at the heart of King Mohammed VI's social program. But there is now ample reason for the government to crack down on Islamist groups, and a long-stalled antiterrorism law — decried as authoritarian and repressive — got new life in the wake of the attack, clearing a major legislative hurdle last week. Even before the bombings, expected advances by Morocco's two Islamic parties led the government to postpone nationwide local elections slated for June.

Moroccan democracy might be further undermined if foreign tourists and investors steer clear of the country and deprive it of resources needed to battle poverty. That "would have dire consequences for everyone," warns André Azoulay, an adviser to Mohammed VI. "It would demonstrate that Western examples of democracy, plurality and economic modernity couldn't be applied to the world's most progressive Arab state — and indeed aren't compatible with Arab society. The only people who would benefit from that are the Islamist radicals." Moroccans are desperate to prevent that: millions of employees respected a five-minute work stoppage Friday to pray for victims of the attacks, and hundreds of thousands were expected in Sunday's marches denouncing religious extremism and terror. Now Morocco and the world must demonstrate to people like those in Sidi Moumen that they have more to live for than kill for — and then begin to make the same point in Arab and European ghettos where radical Islamists cultivate jihad.