Two suspects being sought in connection with last week's terrorist attack in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, where 16 people were killed, are members of an al-Qaeda affiliate active in North and West Africa, a French newspaper reported Wednesday, DPA reported.
Le Figaro newspaper quoted French sources close to the investigation as saying that two suspects, one of whom was described in detail by eyewitnesses, were members of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has carried out a spate of kidnappings of Western nationals in the last two years in the Sahel region.
The sources told the newspaper that the bomb bore the signature of AQIM and was detonated remotely by telephone. Investigators were now trying to verify the phone details.
France, which had eight citizens killed in the bombing of the landmark Argana cafe, sent investigators to Morocco to help in the investigation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was said by Le Figaro to be following the investigation "hour by hour."
Police had been searching for a young Arab man with long hair, based on descriptions given by witnesses, who said they saw him carrying two bags into the cafe.