TWO South Africans who returned home after five months in a Pakistani jail were on a training mission for Al-Qaeda, according to a statement sent to the South African police by Pakistani authorities. | "We're on a mission from God." |
The statement sent by the Pakistani authorities says the two men had been in contact with one of Pakistan's most senior Al-Qaeda members. Ganchi allegedly treated Ghailani while in the house in Gujrat, where some of the occupants engaged in a 10-hour shoot-out with Pakistani police. The statement also contains an admission that the two were recruited for Al-Qaeda in South Africa, and were taught how to use and formulate coded messages and carry out intelligence reconnaissance. Ismail refused to speak to the Sunday Times but his family said they were happy he was back home. Yesterday Ganchi, sitting with his wife Saffiya, said his five-month ordeal in the Islamabad prison had destroyed him emotionally. "I was arrested with Ghailani. It was a terrible ordeal that I want to get rid of. Feroz's body is here but my mind is not," he said.
Ismail refused to comment on the allegations or the statement, but Ganchi said: "Lots of allegations have been made. Some are true and some will remain allegations." At the time of their arrest in July, family members of the two men said that Ganchi was on a hiking trip while Ismail was visiting Islamic schools. The pair flew together, via Dubai, to Lahore on July 10. They were scheduled to return to South Africa on September 24. According to the statement, Ganchi and Ismail received codes and names through e-mails about where to go once in Pakistan. Once in Gujrat, the men went to a restaurant where they used their coded messages to speak to the owner. They were later blindfolded and driven to a house near the sea, where they found Ghailani, for whom the FBI had offered a $25-million reward. Four days after they arrived, the house was stormed by Pakistani police and they were arrested. Senior police officials refused to disclose if any charges were to be brought against the men. Inspector Dennis Adriao, spokesman for National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, said: "We cannot reveal more. This is a sensitive issue and we do not want to jeopardise it."