Omar al-Haddouchi, Hassan Kettani and . The pardons came after the Islamist Justice and Development Party had won the elections and become the ruling party in the country following the Arab Spring, and after pressure from human rights organisations. After the release of several radical Salafis, some ideological leaders of the group toned down their criticism of the king; in 2014 this began to cause a split in the movement as some members instead joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which was rejected by others. Organisation and ideology Salafia Jihadia is said to function as a network of several loosely affiliated Salafist groups and cells, including groups such as al Hijra Wattakfir, Attakfir Bidum Hijra, Assirat al Mustaqim, Ansar al Islam and Moroccan Afghans. The spiritual leader and founder of the group is , former imam of the Al-Quds Mosque Hamburg (which was shut down by German authorities in 2010). Fizazi was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for his radical statements and connection to the Casablanca bombings. Salafia Jihadia has since spawned a wider ideological movement out of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Casablanca bombings On 16 May 2003, twelve suicide bombers from the Salafia Jihadia cell Al-Sirat Al-Musqatim ("The Correct Path") were responsible for four coordinated bombing attacks targeting Westerners and Jews in Casablanca, which killed 33 people (plus all twelve suicide bombers) and injured over 100. In the aftermath of the bombings, up to more than 2,000 individuals were prosecuted in Morocco in a wide-scale crackdown on Islamists and criminals. The Moroccan Justice Ministry subsequently claimed that Salafia Jihadia had 699 activists in the country. Some of the suicide bombers who failed to detonate their vests were captured by police. Three of the failed bombers and another person, all members of Salafia Jihadia, were sentenced to death in August 2003. In September, a court in Kenitra gave 27 people, also all members of Salafia Jihadia sentences ranging from six months to 15 years for their involvement in the attacks. As part of the crackdown after the Casablanca bombings, a court in Rabat in September 2003 sentenced a Frenchman, Robert Richard Antoine Pierre (aka Abu Abderrahmane) and three other members of Salafia Jihadia to life, while 22 others were given sentences ranging from 10 to 30 years imprisonment. Accused of plotting attacks in Tangier, Pierre was stated to have founded