Al-Qaedas held in Malawi
2003-06-23 17:17
Blantyre - Malawi police have arrested five suspected al-Queda operatives in Blantyre, the country's commercial capital.
The suspects were due for deportation on Monday morning but their lawyers have secured a court injuction restraining the government from throwing them out.
Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Richard Matiya confirmed the arrests but refused to explain the circumstances leading to the arrests.
Local media report that the five were arrested in a joint operation by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Malawi's security services after gathering information that the five were connected to the East Africa cells of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.
Lawyer Shabir Latif has obtained a court injunction stopping the Malawi government and its agents from further detaining and deporting the five al-Queda suspects.
Latif expressed concern that if the Malawi government handed the five men to the CIA, they would be taken to Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba where other al-Queda suspects are being detained.
The court has ordered that the five detainees be brought before court within 48 hours.
The directorate of public prosecutions has since indicated that it would challenge the injunction.
The suspects include Mahmud Sardar Issa, a Sudanese national who heads a charitable organisation called Islamic Zakat Fund Trust in Blantyre; Fahad Ral Bahli, a Saudi national who is Malawi branch director of the registered trustees of the Prince Sultan Bin Aziz special committee on relief; Turkish national Arif Ulusam, a Blantyre restaurant owner and Ibrahim Itabaci, executive director of Bedir International School; and Kenyan national Khalifa Abdi Hassan, an Islamic scholar hired by the Muslim Association of Malawi. - African Eye News Service