Two terrorist cells with links to al Qaida have been dismantled and their members detained, the Moroccan Interior Ministry said today.

The cells were made up of nine people, including a Yemeni national sought by Morocco and two people already convicted on terror charges, the statement said.

One of the cells was aimed at recruiting extremists to send to Iraq and was apparently in contact with groups in al Qaida's network, the statement said.

The other, called the "Front of the Saharawi Jihad," was plotting terrorist acts, the statement said. It was headed by a supporter of the Polisario Front, a rebel group seeking the disputed Western Sahara territory's independence from Morocco, the statement said.

It did say when or where the cells had been dismantled.

The nine suspects are in detention pending an investigation and will be brought before the courts, the statement said.

Morocco has dismantled some 70 alleged terrorist cells and tried about 3,000 suspects since 2003 - when terror attacks in Casablanca killed 45 people.