Moroccan authorities detained 736 people in the first nine days of September who were planning to cross illegally to Europe, Reuters quoted state media as saying on Friday. The arrests were made in northern Morocco, separated from Spain by a nine-mile (14.5-km) stretch of the Mediterranean Sea, and southern areas close to the Canary Islands, state radio and news agency MAP said, quoting Interior Ministry officials. Most of those arrested were from sub-Saharan African countries, with only 54 being Moroccan nationals, they added. The total number of would-be migrants arrested so far this year was now 4,478 from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and Asia, MAP said. It did not give a detailed breakdown. Up to 40,000 people illegally risk crossing from Morocco to Europe each year in search of a better life. Hundreds of them drown on the way. --SP 2100 Local Time 1800 GMT
