Morocco: Soldiers accused of permitting arms to get to militants

(AKI) - Five Moroccan soldiers may go on trial for allegedly accepting payments from weapons smugglers who transported arms into an area of the disputed Western Sahara for a cell linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), according to newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, citing comments by the interior ministry.

The ministry said the soldiers are accused of aiding smugglers bringing weapons to an militant cell with 27 members.

The soldiers worked as border security guards in the western part of Morocco allowing them to allow the arms traffickers pass by for a fee.

The insurgents transported automatic weapons, pistols and a rocket launcher on camels, the report said.

Morocco last week announced that it had broken up a militant cell suspected of planning to set up a rear base in Morocco from where it would plan bank robberies and attacks using explosive belts and car bombs against security services and foreign interests.