US lists SA cousins as al-Qaeda collaborators
The US Treasury Department has named two SA cousins as al-Qaeda financiers and facilitators, ordering a freeze on any US assets they may have and banning Americans from doing business with them, says a report on the News24 site.
The Treasury, invoking an executive order used to combat terrorist financing and money- laundering activities, alleged Farhad Ahmed Dockrat provided funds to a trust used by al-Qaeda, and his cousin, Junaid Ismail Dockrat, helped facilitate travel of South Africans to Pakistan for al-Qaeda training. The action follows days of speculation about the two Muslim cousins after a South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Pretoria was in talks with Washington about their being placed on a UN list of people with suspected al-Qaeda ties.
Full report on the News24 site
Another 11 SA Muslims are being targeted by the US. They have written to Thabo Mbeki, requesting his intervention, after being turned back on international flights. Three of them were told they were listed by the US as terror suspects. A Sunday Times report names the group: Ebrahim Essop Desai and his son, Zakharriya, Fazlur Rahman Azmi, Yaseen Hajee, Ismail Mulla, Dr Suliman Ismail , Moulana Sabier Saloojee, Idris Hansa, Farouk Bassa, Salma Bassa and 13-year-old Adil Bassa. Zaheer Adam, a lawyer for the group, said two of his clients had been taken off flights passing through Dakar and sent back to SA. Two more were intercepted on flights passing through Singapore and returned to SA, he said.
Full Sunday Times report