Verdicts in Morocco terror trial

Thousand of Moroccans were arrested after the 2003 attacks

A court in Morocco has sentenced two men to death on terror charges.

Abdelmalek Bouizakarne and Youssef Addad were found guilty of possessing explosives and setting up an Islamist group to commit violence.

Thirteen other defendants were given sentences ranging from five to 30 years in prison. All the suspects had pleaded not guilty.

Thousands have been arrested in Morocco since a series of suicide bombings killed 45 in Casablanca in May 2003.

The death sentence has not been carried out in Morocco since 1994.

'No proof'

The verdicts were read out at the court in Sale near the capital Rabat.

The defendants cried "God is greatest" and "I place my fate in God's hands", witnesses told Reuters news agency.

Their lawyer, Mohamed Ben Sahraoui, told Reuters the sentences handed out on Friday were unfair and that the defendants' statements had been extracted by force.

"There is no proof from the courts of their guilt," he said, adding: "If they have explosives they must be produced. The court didn't even ask for witnesses."