(Jill Carroll).- Troubling signs are emerging that Morocco is becoming fertile ground for more sophisticated militant groups. The latest evidence: A trial of 50 Islamists who allegedly planned to attack the US Embassy in Rabat, a military base, and tourist destinations. And unlike the groups behind previous terrorist bombings in this moderate Muslim monarchy, this group was drawn not from the slums of Casablanca, but from the society's upper echelons. There is also evidence of NorthAfricans working with Al Qaeda insurgents in Iraq and Pakistan – raising concerns that they will return home with their newfound skills. The group on trial, called Ansar al Mehdi, includes middle-class Moroccans, some drawn from the Army, and four women, two of whom are married to Royal Air Maroc pilots, according to statements government officials have made to Moroccan media. That's a significant shift.
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