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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| Aswat sold CDs in Johannesburg |
| 2005-08-03 |
| Haroon Rashid Aswat - the man believed to have co-ordinated the London bombings in which 56 people died - is known in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, as "a nice family man". Aswat made his living selling Islamic CDs and DVDs at fleamarkets around Joburg and in neighbouring countries, a business associate said yesterday. Ahmed Al Arine, who says he was interrogated for three days by South African intelligence agents last week, said he had helped Aswat sell CDs from a stall on Fordsburg Square and was shocked by the allegations levelled against him. Al Arine, a refugee from Jordan seeking asylum in South Africa, described Aswat as "a nice person" and said he had never expressed any interest in radical Islam in the five months he had known him. London police, however, are determined to question him because the July 7 bombers allegedly made about 20 calls to his cellphone shortly before the bombings. US authorities also want to question him about an al-Qaeda-style training camp they say he tried to establish in Bly, Oregon. Aswat has been described by US and British media as a senior al-Qaeda figure and the ringleader of the July 7 attacks. Quoting intelligence sources, the Times last week reported that, prior to the deadly bombings, Aswat visited the home towns of all four bombers as well as some of the London targets. He is also believed to have flown out from Heathrow hours before the four suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters on the transport system. Zambian police are holding Aswat, who was arrested on July 20 in Lusaka. He was due to be extradited to Britain after Zambia's interior minister yesterday signed a document handing over custody of the suspect to Britain. British newspapers reported at the weekend that Aswat had told his Zambian captors he was once a bodyguard for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Al Arine is in hiding after he claimed he was subjected to intense interrogation sessions at a police station in Pretoria. He said he was arrested on July 24 without a warrant and was duped into giving police a blood sample for DNA purposes. Al Arine's apartment in Randburg was searched and CDs, DVDs, documents and his computer hard drive were taken, all without a warrant, he claimed. He has laid a complaint with the police's Independent Complaints Directorate. His alleged ordeal has, however, allowed a snapshot of Aswat to emerge, which shows he has business dealings that require him to move across borders and in and out of Islamic communities with relative ease. Aswat has family in South Africa and is believed to have left the country about a month ago, ostensibly to make business contacts on the fleamarket circuit in Botswana. Al Arine said yesterday he had been introduced to Aswat by his grandmother and had known him to be a soft-spoken man "of good habits", who was very private. "He was a quiet person. He didn't like anyone to interfere in his life. He always was very secretive, but he was very nice and he was fair with everything that he did with me," Al Arine said. Aswat had been introduced to him as Yahya and he had called him by that name in the five months he had known him, he said. "Sometimes I heard his family call him Haroon, and his granny said to me that this is because he looks like another Haroon in the family," Al Arine said. Asked if Aswat had ever spoken to him about al-Qaeda or radical Islamic issues, Al Arine said: "Never. He didn't speak about these things. He was only concentrating on business: DVDs and CDs. It was for me to manage Joburg, and he had all the fetes and stalls outside Joburg and in Botswana," he said. Aswat left for Botswana about four weeks ago and suddenly "disappeared". Al Arine started getting phone calls from Aswat's worried family, wanting to know if he had heard from his partner. All of Al Arine's calls to Aswat went unanswered. Al Arine was arrested nine days ago as he, his wife and young daughter went to Joburg International Airport to pick up a friend. Five cars surrounded him and about 25 policemen from the Crime Intelligence Unit climbed out, pointing assault rifles at him. Al Arine was forced to the ground, and when he wanted to know what he had done wrong, the police told him the orders to arrest him had "come from the president". He was taken back to his flat and the police seized all kinds of documentation and carted them off. His wife was told that if she ever wanted to see her husband again, she must not tell anyone of the arrests, Al Arine added. While he was being interrogated, Al Arine was asked if he knew Ibrahim Abubaker Tantouche. The US has accused Tantouche of being Bin Laden's banker, which he denies. Tantouche manages a stall in Fordsburg Square next to Al Arine's stand, but they were only passing acquaintances. Al Arine at first denied knowing Tantouche, because he knew him only by one of his names, Ibrahim. But his interrogators were adamant, showing he had made a phone call to Tantouche. Al Arine realised who the police were talking about only when they showed him a photograph. Abeda Bhamjee, Al Arine's lawyer from the Wits Law Clinic, said she was concerned about the way the rights of Muslim and other foreign nationals were being infringed by police action. Safety and Security Department spokesperson Director Sally de Beer refused to comment yesterday. But Trevor Bloem, from the Ministry of Safety and Security, said no police action was above the law and he would be very concerned if human rights were being abused. Al Arine has since been released and says all his documentation - other than his computer hard drive and his car registration papers - have been returned. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 Sold CDs? Everyone one remember Noor Mehanna & his merry band who freaked out a bunch of passengers on a Northwest Air Flight a couple of years ago? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-03 17:01 |
| #6 http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?D=2004-08-24&ID=41427&HC=1 |
| Posted by: Fred 2005-08-03 08:37 |
| #5 Ja.. he was a real nice boychik wile he was a jung man... played with dolls and fuerwerks and all dat kid stoff... a real nice kid he was.. |
| Posted by: Greretch Sleresh2659 2005-08-03 08:29 |
| #4 Scroll more than halfway down: Page 25 AL-AQSA is active in South Africa since 1992, with the visit of Sheikh Muhammed Mahmoud SEYOM (the former Imam of the Grand AL-AQSA MOSQUE in Jerusalem, in 1988 he was banned to SUDAN where he opened a similar office) was accompanied by Abu YUSUF (director of the "PALESTINE AND LEBANON RELIEF FUND"). Abu YUSUF opened a few mosques and addresses in Walmer Estate, Woodstock. This organisation is a front for HAMAS in South Africa. The political wing of HAMAS are in control of this office. It is important to note that South Afican Al-Aqsa International foundation forms part of a network: AIF ISLAMABAD - AIF JORDAN - AIF SOUTH AFRICA. AL-AQSA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION offices in South Africa: AMOCA GARDENS BUILDING 2de Floor Mint Ave 40 (- 14) Fordsburg Johannesburg P O BOX 421082 FORDSBURG 2033 Fax : (011) 8342918 South African AL-AQSA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION board of Trustees exist out of the following individuals: Whadan Amin Aref KHUNFUR a Abu Ahmed SAI GABRIELS Dr. E Muhammed - Muntuz UL - Moulana Mumzal AL HAQ. Page 26 This front organisation has a bank account at First National Bank, Industria account nr 9000028878. Funds are deposit in South Africa by supporters of HAMAS, where after these funds are being transferred to HAMAS in their struggle against Israel. Funds are being channelled from the USA through AIF to organisations who: South African National Intelligence Agency - Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement There is this link which I cannot get to: Rantburg: Never forgive, never forget!... The newspaper said that Fordsburg doctor Feroz Ganchi and Laudium student Zubair ... as a hangout for smugglers and terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. ... rantburg.com/index.php?HC=1&D=2004-08-24 - 410k It has taken a long time but maybe now the Brits will realise that all the different terrorist groups, no matter where they're from get together through the al Queda Franchise . |
| Posted by: Angurt Ebbinesing6381 2005-08-03 07:47 |
| #3 kind of a quiet boy, kept to himself |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-03 02:58 |
| #2 taquiyya for the kufr--ho chi minh worked in the bronx--mao was an agrarian reformer--fidel was an existential rebel--ask c. wright mills----move on dot orgy of violence |
| Posted by: SON OF TOLUI 2005-08-03 02:44 |
| #1 What a joke. All these bums are "shocked" by what Asswat did. Really? What page from the AQ manual does "shocked" show up? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-08-03 02:31 |