RABAT, Morocco —  Moroccan police have arrested one of nine convicts who escaped from prison in April and were linked to deadly 2003 terror attacks, the official MAP news agency reported Thursday.

Police arrested Mohamed Chetbi and two men who helped him to hide out, the agency said. It did not say where the arrests occurred or provide other information.

Chetbi and eight others escaped last month from the prison in the town of Kinitra, about 30 miles northeast of the capital, Rabat. The disappearances were noted on the morning of April 7, the Justice Ministry said at the time.

Chetbi had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a series of nearly simultaneous suicide bombings in 2003 in downtown Casablanca that killed 45 people, including the 12 bombers. Chetbi's exact role was not clear.

The Justice Ministry had said it would spare no effort to find the nine escaped convicts.

Hundreds of Islamic militants are jailed in this North African country viewed in the West as a pillar of Muslim moderation.