Britons named in Morocco bomb case

The attacks killed 44 people

The Foreign Office has confirmed the names of two Britons being held in Morocco - one of whom is detained over the May bombings in Casablanca which killed 44 people.

Abdelatif Merroun, who has both Moroccan and British nationality, appeared in court on Thursday on terror charges connected with the Casablanca bombings in the North African country.

A second British man, Perry Jensen, 42 and believed to be from London, is detained on charges of immorality and of belonging to a criminal gang.

Forty-four people, including 12 suspected suicide bombers, died in the five attacks on Western and Jewish targets on 16 May.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested altogether, and 700 of them charged with direct or indirect involvement in the bombings.

Fifty-two have already appeared in court in direct connection with the attack.

The Foreign Office (FO) said it had officially learned of the British pair's arrests only this week, although they were picked up six weeks ago.

The arrests came to light when the FO made inquiries on behalf of the suspects' families, who had reported them missing in June.

British passports

A FO spokeswoman told BBC News Online that the families of both the British men had been informed.

We will be raising the fact that a British national was held for six weeks without us being informed Foreign Office

British diplomats have visited Mr Jensen, who is thought to have converted to Islam in 1994. He said he had been held since 9 June.

The FO spokeswoman said it was investigating the issue of his detainment.

"We will be raising the fact that a British national was held for six weeks without us being informed," a spokeswoman said.

Banned

If indeed the British national was held for such a long period of time, without charge and without the British authorities being informed, then the British government would make representations to the Moroccan authorities, she said.

The bombs tore through a Spanish restaurant, the Belgian consulate, a Jewish community centre and cemetery and a hotel.

Morocco has blamed the attacks on home-grown Islamist groups such as the banned Salafia Jihadia.

But it also says they were linked to international extremists, notably Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

BBC North Africa correspondent Sebastian Usher says the country is still in shock over the series of attacks.

The bombings shook Morocco's image of itself as immune to the violent Islamism that has plagued its neighbour, Algeria.