Anti-terrorist experts from several countries have been sifting through the wreckage of the Marrakech cafe where 15 people died on Thursday, as officials said a remote control bomb caused the blast.

A video released before the attack by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, with terrorism experts saying the group was one of several likely candidates.

While police from both Morocco and Spain could be seen working at the wrecked cafe in Jamaa el-Fnaa Square, friends and family of the victims gathered at the city's Ibn Tofail hospital.

Mouhou Rachid, a cafe worker, said at least one of his co-workers died and another was in hospital with serious injuries.

"The explosion was terrible. When I recovered consciousness I saw people picking up victims. My friend has injuries in the stomach, face and head."

Morocco's interior ministry said seven of the 15 dead had been identified, including two French citizens, two Canadians, a Dutch national and two Moroccans.

Israel's foreign ministry said two of the victims, a man and a woman, were Jews living in Shanghai.

The attack, in which 23 people were also injured, is the deadliest in Morocco since 12 suicide bombers killed 33 people in co-ordinated strikes in Casablanca eight years ago.

The latest attack was a blow to Morocco's most important tourist city. Tourism is Morocco's biggest source of foreign currency and the second biggest employer after agriculture.

"We are going to work very hard so that this does not have an impact on tourism in Marrakesh," said Salaheddine Mezouar, the finance minister."To go to a country as a tourist and return dead is a terrible thing."

Fernando Reinares, a terrorism expert at Spain's Royal Elcano Institute, told RNE radio there were few doubts that jihadists were behind the attack.

"Morocco and its monarchy are a target for al-Qaida and for the north African groups that have been associated with al-Qaida."

The attack adds to the challenges facing Morocco's ruler, King Mohammed VI, at a time when he is trying to prevent uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world from reaching his normally stable kingdom.

He recently pardoned a raft of political prisoners, including some alleged militant Islamists.

The monarch has promised to reform the constitution to placate pro-democracy protesters. But more protests are planned for Sunday.