Morocco bars main Islamic group from meeting press

RABAT, May 24 (Reuters) Moroccan police barred leaders of the country's main Islamic opposition group from holding a news conference today as part of a crackdown to limit the unauthorised movement's influence.

''There is an order to prevent you from getting into the conference,'' a police official told Al Adl wa al Ihsane's spokesman Fatthallah Arslane in front of other members of the group and journalists.

''That event was banned by an official order,'' the official, who did not give his name, said when Arslane asked who had taken the decision to stop the news conference at the headquarters of Rabat's Bar Association.

Lawyers and rights activists say other political and civic groups often meet there without police intervention.

''That ban, which is part of the continuing government repression against our movement, aims to prevent us from getting our message to the public,'' Arslane told reporters.

Dozens of police were deployed outside the gates of the building but there were no arrests.

Al Adl wa al Ihsane, Morocco's biggest opposition force with about 2,50,000 members, wants an Islamic state organised according to sharia law, although it says it rejects violence.

Police have arrested more than 3,000 members in the last year after it launched a campaign to recruit beyond its traditional bases in mosques and universities.

All those arrested were released, though around 50 of them received suspended jail sentences or fines.

The government insists the group is not authorised to hold meetings although it allows low-profile activities.

Analysts say the government does not want to crush the group but seeks to limit its expansion.

REUTERS DKS PM0147