Morocco has arrested four suspects for allegedly issuing a fatwa that allowed a person to be burned alive for rejecting Islam, AFP reported Tuesday.
In a statement reported by Moroccan state news, the interior ministry said four members of a "terrorist cell" were detained for issuing a decree that ordered the kidnapping and burning alive of someone accused of apostacy, the rejection of Islam and its main tenets.
The four suspects were arrested in the disputed territory's city of Laayoune, south of Morocco, after an investigation revealed their "total acceptance" of Daesh's agenda, the interior ministry said, adding that the cell's leader had "great experience" in making explosives and planned to carry out extremist attacks in the country.
The territory known as the Western Sahara was mostly taken over by Morocco after Spain's withdrawal in 1975, according to AFP. The dispute prompted guerrilla warfare for independence until the UN brokered a ceasefire 24 years ago, but tension between Morocco and supporters of an independent country continues.
