A hotel was among five sites targeted

At least 39 people have been killed in suicide bomb attacks in Morocco's largest city, Casablanca, according to latest reports from the city.

Dozens of others were injured in the attacks on Friday night, which targeted a Jewish community centre, a Spanish restaurant and social club, a hotel and the Belgian consulate.

Five explosions occurred within 30 minutes of each other. A Moroccan Government official said all the blasts were triggered by suicide bombers carrying explosives.

Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel said the attacks "bear the hallmark of international terrorism", adding that 10 suicide bombers were among those killed.

The doorman, poor thing, they cut his head off, like this, with a big knife Lamia Haffi Witness at Spanish restaurant Morocco blasts in pictures Q&A Casablanca bombings

Officials said the victims were mainly Moroccans.

Witnesses spoke of the attackers having grenades and other explosives tied to their belts.

The explosions came amid worldwide terror alerts and just four days after a co-ordinated series of bombings in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, killed 34 people.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says he believes the Casablanca blasts were al-Qaeda inspired - and were probably the work of a "North African cell linked to al-Qaeda".

Israeli tourists

In the past, Osama Bin Laden's terror network has carried out similar co-ordinated suicide bombings against Western or Jewish targets.

The BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo says there are no Moroccan militant groups that are known to use violence of this sort to further their cause.

Israeli Army Radio said about 40 Israelis were staying at the Farah Hotel - better known as the Safir Hotel - targeted by the bombers.

But no Jews or Israelis were among the casualties and the group was later evacuated to hotels in other cities, Israeli officials said.

The Moroccan interior minister said 60 people had been injured in the attacks. One of them - a suspected bomber - was being questioned.

Two other suspects had also been arrested, he said. All three were Moroccans.

Spanish National Radio said 15 people died in the attack on the Casa de Espana restaurant, making it the worst of the five bombings.

Lamia Haffi, the secretary of the social club, told the radio that "the doorman, poor thing, they cut his head off, like this, with a big knife... then they left one, two bombs".

"I saw the doorman's chair, it was covered in blood. And they left a large knife there. Then inside there were bodies all over the place."

Guards killed

Belgian foreign ministry spokesman Didier Seeuws told the Belgian news agency, Belga, that the country's consulate had been severely damaged.

He said two policemen outside the building had been killed and a security guard had required hospital treatment for his injuries.

An employee at a nearby Italian restaurant, the Positano, said a colleague had stopped three suspects as "they were entering our restaurant". The establishment is reported to be used by the Jewish community.

Quoting the colleague, he said "there were three men - one of them escaped and the other two died".

Belgian officials said their security cameras showed the bombers trying to get into the restaurant, but failing. The bombs then went off in the street.

After the blasts the streets of Casablanca were reported to be largely empty as frightened residents raced home to take shelter.

"Casablanca is a town in shock, Morocco is a country in shock. We never expected such an event here," said Abubakr Jammai, a local journalist.

US allies

Casablanca is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south-west of the capital, Rabat, on the Atlantic coast.

In December, three Saudi men went on trial in Morocco, accused of forming an al-Qaeda cell in the country and of planning an attack against Nato ships in the Straits of Gibraltar.

Morocco has been a staunch ally of the US, although it did express opposition to the war against Iraq, with King Mohammed VI warning that it could anger the country's Islamic fundamentalists.

Spain backed the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Both the US and British authorities have issued a number of recent warnings about possible terrorist attacks in East Africa, particularly Kenya, and South-East Asia.