- After South African police yesterday briefed parliament on the arrest and deportation of suspected al Qaeda terrorists in the country, specialists today characterise the police reports as "far-fetched". The arrests had been made shortly before South Africa's elections and police hold they were planning an attack in the country.
National police commissioner Jackie Selebi on Wednesday told the South African parliament's security committee that local police had arrested and deported several people linked to the al Qaeda terror network, the local daily 'The Star' reported today.
- We arrested some people who had evil intentions against this country, Mr Selebi was quoted as saying. "We did not tell anybody - five days before the election. We got these people to leave," he allegedly said.
Mr Selebi further was said to have told the committee that local police had cooperated with foreign services, including British police. The South African operation allegedly had led to the arrest of several al Qaeda suspects in Jordan, Syria and Britain.
The reports of a possible cell of al Qaeda terrorists operating in South Africa has shocked the national public, which largely feels the country is safe regarding international terrorism. Mr Selebi's disclosure further comes at a time as South Africans are discussing a controversial anti-terrorism bill, which according to critics may violate several civil rights.
Mr Selebi's disclosures today were met with criticism from several sides. Mike Hough, the Director of the prestigious Institute for Security Studies at the University of Pretoria, called the police report "far-fetched". He especially reacted to the allegations that al Qaeda would want to table an attack on South Africa during the recent elections.
- If you think of the [South African] government's fierce resistance against a war in Iraq and its sympathy with the Palestinians ... then an al Qaeda plot against elections in South Africa sounds a bit far-fetched, commented Mr Hough. The fact that the suspected terrorists had been deported indicated that there was not sufficient evidence to support this claim, he added.
The researcher however didn't find it unlikely that al Qaeda would have established cells on South African territory. The terrorist network has become a decentralised organisation and may very well operate cells in countries where it doesn't have concrete plans of attacking. According to Mr Selebi, British police had also found a large number of South African passports in the homes of the suspected terrorists.
Also the conservative opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) - which advocates a stronger alliance with the US - today reacted with disturbance to the statements attributed to Mr Selebi. The police officer's story "directly contradicts" recent statements made by those responsible for national security, DA spokesman Roy Jankielsohn said today.
South Africa's Safety and Security Minister, Charles Nqakula, only on 17 March had stated there were no "al Qaeda cells in South Africa," the DA spokesman recalled. Also the South African National Defence Force in April had said there was no al Qaeda threat in South Africa. Mr Jankielsohn demanded all security agencies needed to "sing from the same song sheet."
The opposition party felt that Mr Selebi's statements had left more questions open than answered. The DA promised to make use of parliamentary questions to get the answers on why the alleged al Qaeda suspects were deported and not arrested and on "what basis does Mr Selebi believe that al Qaeda would want to disrupt South Africa's elections."
The South African government, Minister Nqakula and the ruling ANC party have not wanted to comment on the revelations made by Mr Selebi so far. It also remains unclear how the police commissioner's statement to parliament reached the South African press.
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