Morocco holds two 'most wanted'

Two top terror suspects have been arrested during a raid on an Islamic militant cell, say Morocco's police.

A suspect and a policeman died when police conducted an operation near the town of Meknes which resulted in the arrest of 35 people.

The Moroccan authorities have been on the hunt for Islamic fundamentalists since five bomb blasts killed 45 people last May in Casablanca.

The raid is reported to have uncovered explosives and forgery equipment.

Four other policemen were injured during the raid.

Official sources have confirmed that among those arrested were Mohcine Bouarfa and Tawfiq Hanouichi.

Both men have been at the top of Morocco's most wanted list, suspected of involvement in the Casablanca bombings.

Police say the two men belong to the same Islamic extremist group which carried out the murder of a Jewish Moroccan man, on 11 September last year.

Moroccan police belileve they have cracked a significant terrorist cell, seizing explosives, detonating devices and false papers during the raids.

Meknes, some 100 kilometres from the capital, Rabat, is known to be the home of several radical Islamic groups.