Morocco - Five people killed and 128 injured in Sunday demonstration

DPA

Feb 21, 2011 - Rabat - Five people were killed and 128 injured during pro- democracy demonstrations in Morocco on Sunday as the protest wave sweeping the Arab world spread to the North African kingdom, according to figures given by the government on Monday.
The bodies of the five victims were found inside a bank that had been set on fire by rioters in the northern city of Al Hoceima.
Some 37,000 people attended marches, rallies and sit-in demonstrations in 53 prefectures and provinces, Interior Minister Taieb Cherkaoui said.
Violent incidents occurred in seven cities, including the port city of Tangier, the tourist destination Marrakesh and Al Hoceima, according to the minister.
Media reports said demonstrators attacked party offices, police stations and shops, and set cars on fire. Police dispersed the rioters with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The unrest damaged 33 public buildings, 24 bank offices, 50 shops and private buildings, and 66 vehicles, according to figures given by the minister.
Cherkaoui said the Al Hoceima bank where the five charred bodies were found had been closed at the time. The victims were looters who had entered the bank after the demonstration was over. Others then set the bank on fire, according to the minister.
Cherkaoui said a total of 128 people were injured in the unrest, including 115 members of the security forces, and that 120 people had been detained.
The demonstrations were staged with the support of a Facebook protest movement, Islamic fundamentalists, human rights and women's groups, as well as some leftist parties and trade unionists.