Four explosions took place near consulates and restaurants in the downtown of Casablanca, leaving four burnt-out vehicles at the four sites, local security officials said.

This was the first major attack of its type in Morocco in recent years and the explosions came four days after a series of suicide bombings in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, which killed 34 people and wounded nearly 200 others.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2003)