South Africa Foiled Al Qaeda

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

South Africa Foiled Al Qaeda-Linked Plot -Police
Thu May 27, 2004 01:41 AM ET


JOHANNESBURG (*******) - South Africa foiled an al Qaeda-linked plot to disrupt last month's general elections and passed along information that resulted in arrests in Jordan, Syria and Britain, Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi said.

"We arrested some people who had evil intentions against this country -- we did not tell anybody -- five days before the election," Selebi said in comments to a parliamentary committee broadcast on national radio on Thursday.

"The result is that you saw in Jordan, in and around those days, a number of people arrested who were called al Qaeda. A number of people were (also) arrested in Syria as a result of our operation," Selebi said.

South Africa mounted a massive security effort ahead of the April 14 elections, its third democratic polls since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The ruling African National Congress led by President Thabo Mbeki -- an outspoken critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- cruised to an easy victory with almost 70 percent of the vote.

Selebi, speaking to the National Assembly's safety and security committee on Wednesday, said the police operation had extended to Britain.

"In part of this operation, in London, the British police found boxes and boxes of South African passports in the home of one of these people, or an associate of these people, which says to me there must be a link that people are able to acquire these documents," Selebi said.

There was no immediate word on what had been done with the suspects arrested in South Africa, although Selebi said "we got these people to leave" -- possibly indicating that they had been deported or extradited.

South Africa's Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said in March that officials believed no al Qaeda cells were operating in the country, although he acknowledged that it was possible there were undercover operatives at large.

© ******* 2004. All Rights Reserved.
http://*******.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=235RBV3KGI1YICRBAEOCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=5269296

[MetalBoy]

Hmmm.... interesting, haven't heard much from down there recently. So does their government support our efforts in Iraq? All I know is that a lot of PMC's in Iraq are South African.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Hmmm.... interesting, haven't heard much from down there recently. So does their government support our efforts in Iraq? All I know is that a lot of PMC's in Iraq are South African.
I would suspect that South Africa will prevent Al-Q operating in that region at all costs, whether they support the US and coalitions efforts in Iraq is neither here nor there as far as I am concerned. As long as South Africa is an unfriendly operating environment for Al-Q I am quite happy with their foreign policy, any way my brother-in-law was in the SA armed forces and from what he tells me SA don't f*ck about when it comes to terrorists whether they operate in SA or outside its borders.
I see that the article mentions co-operation with Syria in the arrest of terrorist suspects, it has been mentioned in the press that the FBI and MI6 have a working relationship with Syrian security services and it is believed that one terror suspect was detained at JFK and held before being put on a charter jet to Syria for further questioning.

[ikurinturbiini]

double tap

[ikurinturbiini]

South Africa Foiled Al Qaeda-Linked Plot -Police
Thu May 27, 2004 01:41 AM ET


JOHANNESBURG (*******) - South Africa foiled an al Qaeda-linked plot to disrupt last month's general elections and passed along information that resulted in arrests in Jordan, Syria and Britain, Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi said.

"We arrested some people who had evil intentions against this country -- we did not tell anybody -- five days before the election," Selebi said in comments to a parliamentary committee broadcast on national radio on Thursday.

"The result is that you saw in Jordan, in and around those days, a number of people arrested who were called al Qaeda. A number of people were (also) arrested in Syria as a result of our operation," Selebi said.

South Africa mounted a massive security effort ahead of the April 14 elections, its third democratic polls since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The ruling African National Congress led by President Thabo Mbeki -- an outspoken critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- cruised to an easy victory with almost 70 percent of the vote.

Selebi, speaking to the National Assembly's safety and security committee on Wednesday, said the police operation had extended to Britain.

"In part of this operation, in London, the British police found boxes and boxes of South African passports in the home of one of these people, or an associate of these people, which says to me there must be a link that people are able to acquire these documents," Selebi said.

There was no immediate word on what had been done with the suspects arrested in South Africa, although Selebi said "we got these people to leave" -- possibly indicating that they had been deported or extradited.

South Africa's Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said in March that officials believed no al Qaeda cells were operating in the country, although he acknowledged that it was possible there were undercover operatives at large.

© ******* 2004. All Rights Reserved.
http://*******.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=235RBV3KGI1YICRBAEOCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=5269296

GO BOERS! GO BOKKE! woot

[Trident-za]

Hmmm.... interesting, haven't heard much from down there recently. So does their government support our efforts in Iraq? All I know is that a lot of PMC's in Iraq are South African.

In a nutshell, no. The South African government is against terrorism AND the war in Iraq. They say diplomacy and the UN should have been used, and not military force.

Having said that - they are against AQ and other terror organizations too. This whole story is a bit weird.... I've just watched the news and Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is refusing to say anything to the media, claiming this info was never supposed to reach the media in the first place.


Bacilluspolymyxa wrote:

...and from what he tells me SA don't f*ck about when it comes to terrorists whether they operate in SA or outside its borders.


Generally speaking, this is true. (of course, this didn't stop the previous government from losing "their" war against terror. You can kill as many terrorists as you want, but that alone will NEVER guarantee a victory. )