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Islamic State
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Morocco arrests ‘emir’ of group blamed for beheading Scandinavian hikers Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland

  • Abdessamad Ejjoud, a 25-year-old street vendor, allegedly formed the terror cell blamed for killing Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland
  • 18 people have now been arrested over the gruesome killings

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A girl carries pictures of 24-year-old Dane Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (left) and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland during a candlelight vigil outside the Danish embassy in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday. Photo: AP
Agence France-Presse

Moroccan authorities have made five new arrests linked to the murder a week ago of two Scandinavian women in the High Atlas mountains, the country’s counterterror chief said Monday.

The arrests were made in several cities in the kingdom, bringing to 18 the number of people detained over the double-murder, said Abdelhak Khiam, head of Morocco’s central office for judicial investigation. Those newly arrested including the supposed mastermind of the killings, branded “the emir” of the group by Khaim.

The beheaded bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (left), 24, of Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, of Norway, were found by fellow hikers in Morocco. Photos: Facebook
The beheaded bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (left), 24, of Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, of Norway, were found by fellow hikers in Morocco. Photos: Facebook

“The two victims were stabbed, had their throats slit and were then beheaded,” Khaim said.

The four main suspects in what the authorities describe as a terrorist act were arrested between Monday and Thursday last week in the tourist hub city of Marrakesh.

Horror video shows murder, decapitation, of Scandinavian hikers in Morocco

Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were found dead at an isolated hiking spot south of Marrakesh on December 17.

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