Morocco detains two reporters, officer on leak

RABAT, July 20 (Reuters) Morocco authorities detained two journalists and put an army officer under arrest over what the government described as leaked top secret intelligence information over an al Qaeda plot, officials said today.

''The Royal Armed Forces officer was put under arrest later today and several other officers have been heard over the case,'' said a government official.

The unnamed officer will go on trial when the probe into the leak of the information was completed, he said.

Two journalists were detained for publishing the information in the Arabic-language weekly Al Watan Alaan (The Homeland Now) last week.

''Al Watan managing director Aberrahim Ariri and journalist Mustapaha Hourmatallah are still in police custody since their arrest on Tuesday,'' Al Watan reporter Mounir Ketaoui said.

Officials declined to comment on charges the two journalists could face or when they would be released or put on trial, citing the secrecy of the ongoing investigation.

''The authorities did not even want to tell the lawyers where our colleagues are held. We do not know if they will extend their custody when their legal 96-hour-detention period ends early tomorrow,'' Ketaoui said.

Lawyers said the two journalists could be charged with undermining state security and risk up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

Early this month, Morocco raised its security alert level to the highest rating of ''maximum'', suggesting an attack was imminent.

Its Interior Ministry has said it had obtained recent intelligence information on a threat but gave no details.

The Maghreb region has been on alert since al Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa, the Algeria-based Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, threatened to escalate its war against ''corrupt'' regional rulers and their Western allies.

Al Watan Alaan, quoting a military intelligence document, said al Qaeda had decided to send 12 Arab and four Pakistani fighters to carry out attacks in Morocco and other Maghreb states.

Junior interior minister Fouad Ali el Himma told a briefing of local newspaper editors yesterday the information used by al Watan came from ''filched secret defence documents''.

''Noone has the right to treat this issue lightly. The state is responsible for the security of the citizens,'' he said.

REUTERS CS BD1622