MARIJUANA PROFITS MAY 'FUND TERRORISM'

RABAT, Morocco -- Morocco's $3.2 billion marijuana trade
is under threat in the wake of suicide bomb attacks, a report said
Saturday.

For a long time the Moroccan authorities have turned a blind eye to
the smuggling trade that accompanies cannabis cultivation, The London
Daily Telegraph reported.

The illicit crop is Morocco's biggest foreign currency earner and,
according to EU estimates, is worth $3 billion a year -- making the
country the world's largest marijuana exporter.

But, since May 16 when Islamic suicide bomb attacks killed 32 people
in Casablanca, that may change, the Telegraph said.

"We have heard some evidence that perhaps terrorist cells that were
based in Tangier were mixed up in the drug smuggling industry. It is
of great concern and efforts are now being made to substantiate those
claims," one Western diplomatic source told the Telegraph.