DA wants info on terror threat

2004-08-04 16:00

Pretoria - While the police and government declined to comment on Wednesday on claims that two citizens held in Pakistan were plotting attacks on South African tourist destinations, the DA urged the authorities to keep the public properly informed of any real danger.

The Democratic Alliance said in a statement: "In order to alleviate the confusion and fear that surrounds this report, it is imperative that the government acts as swiftly as possible to obtain clarity on this situation."

Said criminal intelligence spokesperson Tummi Golding: "We don't wish to comment on the issue."

National police spokesperson Selby Bokaba said: "We are not in a position to comment, because we simply don't know".

According to foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa, the government could not confirm or deny any of the allegations until it had spoken to the two South Africans, apparently being held in Lahore.

No consular access to men

Mamoepa said the government was battling to gain consular access to the men, being held since July 25.

South African officials had spoken to the Pakistani High Commission in Pretoria and to the Pakistani foreign ministry about the matter.

Both undertook to render assistance in enabling consular visits to the men, "but this has not happened," Mamoepa said. The reason being given was that authorities were still debriefing the men, he added.

The two are Feroze Ganchi, a doctor from Fordsburg, Johannesburg, and 20-year-old student Zubair Ismael from Laudium in Pretoria. Ganchi is apparently also known as Abu Bakar.

They were among more than a dozen people detained after a 12-hour shootout with security forces at a house in Gujrat, south-east of Islamabad, on July 25.

Attacks on SA

Tanzanian al-Qaeda suspect, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was reportedly among those arrested. He is wanted by the United States for the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

French news agency AFP on Tuesday quoted a Pakistani official as saying the South African pair had told interrogators of plans to attack tourist sites in their home country.

The Pakistani High Commission in Pretoria referred enquiries to its first secretary, who could not be reached.

Dismay

A group calling itself the Muslim Youth Movement of SA expressed dismay at media reports on the alleged threat.

"We find it strange that statements form unnamed Pakistani intelligence sources have become authoritative in creating this 'threat' atmosphere," it said in a statement.

"We know that Pakistani security forces use torture as an interrogation method. We are surprised that people are so willing to accept such dubious statements."

The movement dismissed as "utterly implausible" a notion that South Africa could be a target of al-Qaeda attacks.

- SAPA