The Associated Press

Fri, Jan 9, 2009 (12:03 a.m.)

The official Moroccan news agency says an Islamist convicted in the deadly 2003 Casablanca bombings who escaped from prison has been caught in neighboring Algeria and returned home.

The MAP agency says Hicham Alami, who had been sentenced to life for his role in the bombings that killed 45 people, was among nine Islamists who escaped from the high-security Kenitra prison in April.

MAP reports that Alami was caught in Algeria, returned to Morocco and went before a judge Thursday, to be retried for terrorism and evasion.

The high-profile escape last spring raised fears that the prison was infiltrated by Islamist supporters of the convicts.

A total of seven of the escapees are reported to have been caught.