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 RABAT, Morocco (AP) - Moroccans began voting Friday in parliamentary elections likely to make the country's leading political force an Islamist party that has tapped into people's mounting disillusionment with the parties in power.
A bombing Thursday that killed 16 in neighboring Algeria cast a shadow over the Morocco vote, threatening to blunt the expected victory of the Justice and Development Party, or PJD. The party denounces the Islamic extremism that has fueled 15 years of violence against the Algerian government, but critics fear hard-line plans lurk beneath its moderate surface.
A PJD victory would mark the first time Islamists have wielded such legitimate political power in North Africa. Ultimate authority, however, rests with a king determined to maintain his country's tolerant, tourist-friendly image and remain friends with the United States.
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