'Al-Qaeda operative' gets bail
2004-04-20 13:15
Pretoria - A man believed to be a Libyan national with alleged links to al-Qaeda appeared in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Tuesday for extradition proceedings.
Police spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said the case was postponed to June 30 and Ibrahim Ali Abubakar Tantoush was freed on R8 000 bail.
Tantoush was arrested in Pretoria in February for allegedly being in possession of a fake South African passport.
He was at the time also wanted by the international police agency Interpol on a warrant issued at the request of the Libyan government on a charge of gold theft, De Beer said.
His court appearance was related to Interpol's intention to have him extradited to Libya.
Asked about his nationality, she said: "As far as we can ascertain, he is a Libyan citizen".
De Beer declined to comment on Tantoush's alleged al-Qaeda links.
According to 702 Eyewitness News, Tantoush was a suspected al-Qaeda operative and is alleged to have stolen large amounts of gold in 1985 to fund Osama bin Ladin.
He has also allegedly attended various al-Qaeda training camps.
Tantoush reportedly denied the claims, saying Libya wanted to punish him for his role in a student uprising in the late 1980s.
Al-Qaeda and bin Laden have been blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and other terrorist activities.
- SAPA