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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| Bin Laden is a hero to South African groups |
| 2004-08-03 |
| Inside the Muslims Against Global Oppression's Information Center, nestled on a quiet block where women wear black Muslim head scarves, Moain Achmad wages war on America's policies for a living. Behind him is a row of T-shirts glorifying the United States as enemy No. 1. The shirts read "Long live bin Laden," a reference to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He sells several every week. South Africa, one of the most liberal countries in the world, has become a focal point of concern in the war on terrorism. Anger toward Bush administration policies in Iraq is fueling admiration for bin Laden, even among moderate Muslims, in a region the United States believes is fertile ground for future terrorists, according to terrorism experts and Muslim leaders. "Bin Laden is a hero," Achmad said. "Saddam overnight has become a hero," a reference to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Last month, U.S. customs agents at an airport in south Texas arrested a South African woman thought to have Al Qaeda links as she tried to fly to New York. That is just the latest incident in what terrorism experts fear is a growing danger that Al Qaeda and its ideologies have inspired South African groups to commit acts of terrorism at home and abroad. South African authorities announced in May that they had uncovered an Al Qaeda plot to disrupt the nation's presidential elections. Five suspected agents were apparently deported after entering on South African passports that had been obtained fraudulently, an action that led to more arrests in Jordan and Syria. Last week, two South Africans suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda were arrested in Pakistan. Those incidents come, say terrorism experts and Western diplomats, amid a growing unity within Cape Town's 600,000-strong Muslim community against U.S. policies in the Middle East. Protest marches have erupted at crucial points of the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Muslim radio stations and imams at Friday prayers in scores of mosques across Western Cape province routinely denounce U.S. tactics in Iraq and the Arab world and its support for Israel. "One can clearly see there is a movement of resentment here, and that could be used as a mobilizing vehicle in the future," said Anneli Botha, a terrorism expert at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies in Cape Town. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Anger toward Bush administration policies in Iraq is fueling admiration for bin Laden, even among moderate Muslims, in a region the United States believes is fertile ground for future terrorists, according to terrorism experts and Muslim leaders. Try attacking us, and we'll come after you too. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-03 9:37:41 PM |