Al-Qaida militants and other terrorists traveling through Europe have obtained South African passports, and authorities believe they got them from crime syndicates operating inside the government agency that issues the documents. The illicit acquisition of the passports, which allow travel through many African countries and Britain without visas, sent shock waves through South Africa after one top police official said "boxes and boxes" of the documents were discovered in London.
Barry Gilder, director general of the Department of Home Affairs, told The Associated Press he has come across a number of instances in which South African passports were found in the hands of al-Qaida suspects or their associates in Europe - both in his current capacity and as a former deputy director in the National Intelligence Agency. Gilder gave no specifics, and he described these as "isolated" cases. But he said his department is moving aggressively to counter the threat, dedicating more senior officials to fight corruption and introducing identity cards and passports containing microchips with the owner's fingerprints. "We do not want our country to be used either as a staging post or haven for terrorists," Gilder told the AP. |