The Jabaroot hacking group, which recently leaked the data of some 70,000 members of Morocco’s intelligence and security services, is now threatening to publish information related to the alleged use of the Pegasus spy program by the Moroccan secret services.
El Confidencial journalist Ignacio Cembrero, who was the first to report this information, analyzed this Tuesday in The Compass of Onda Cero the group’s latest threats. As he explained, the hackers left a message on his Telegram channel in which they warned of a new publication, even including some phrases in Spanish.
“If they do, I believe they would be explosive documents,” said Cembrero, who pointed out that it is still not clear what type of information Jabaroot intends to reveal or how far the leak could go. The journalist has highlighted, however, that the group has so far carried out its threats and that “everything it has leaked has turned out to be true.” At the moment it is unknown who is behind Jabaroot, although there are different theories about his identity and origin.
everything he has leaked has turned out to be true
The focus on those responsible for Moroccan intelligence
Cembrero explained that the hackers have repeatedly directed their accusations against Abdellatif Hammouchi, head of Morocco’s intelligence and security services, and Fouad Ali El Himma, one of the main advisors of King Mohamed VI, known as the “viceroy of Morocco.”
According to the journalist, the pirates now present the possible leak about Pegasus as revenge for the migratory tragedy in Ceuta and for the actions of the Moroccan authorities during the crisis.
Cembrero considers it unlikely that two figures of that level could have acted completely outside the monarch. In his opinion, there were two possibilities: that the king did not have all the information about the operations or that certain actions “got out of hand.”
In this sense, he has stated that there may have been “a desire on the part of the highest Moroccan authorities to take revenge” for the information published by different European media about the alleged massive use of Pegasus by the Moroccan secret services, but that finally “it got completely out of hand.”
The Moroccan Government seeks to divert internal attention
The journalist has also referred to the recent territorial claims made by Morocco about Ceuta and Melilla, among them those made by the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, who evoked ancient Muslim poets linked to Ceuta. Cembrero considers that these statements do not necessarily have an aggressive nature towards Spain, but rather may respond to an internal strategy to “divert attention from behind closed doors” and try to move the focus away from the migratory tragedy in Ceuta.
The journalist recalled that more than 140 people died during the migration crisis and criticized the fact that no Moroccan authority has publicly expressed its condolences to the families of the victims or declared official mourning. He has also pointed out Morocco’s rejection of the transfer of several bodies from Ceuta to the province of Tetouan.
Despite the tensions, Cembrero does not consider it likely that there will be a sustained escalation between the Spanish and Moroccan governments. Among other reasons, he has pointed to the proximity of the 2030 World Cup, which Spain, Portugal and Morocco will organize jointly and whose final the North African country aspires to host.
