Iran – Features

By Jeff Wicks

Two South African Muslim clerics have been detained by the Ugandan government on suspicion of being involved in terrorism.

According to reports by Radio Islam, the men were detained by the joint anti-terrorism task force of Uganda at Entebbe International Airport in Kampala on Sunday.

The families of the two Johannesburg men are expected to call on the department of foreign affairs to intervene on their behalf.

Mufti Hussain Bhayat, 57, of Lenasia, and Haroon Saley, believed to be in his early 50s, from Azaadville on Johannesburg’s West Rand, are being held by Ugandan authorities.

The two had apparently arrived in Uganda from Kenya and were to arrive at OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning.

Ugandan defence and army spokesperson Major Paddy Ankunda said the two are being held by the Ugandan military intelligence.

Foreign Affairs Department spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the arrest of the clerics was yet to be confirmed.

"At this stage we have not been able to verify the arrest of the two men, but we have been in contact with our diplomatic mission in Uganda.

"A team there is liaising with the Ugandan authorities to firstly confirm the arrest. Once confirmed they will facilitate a meeting and offer our counsel."

According to Bhayat’s son, Mahmood, his father had travelled to Nairobi last week.

(This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on August 22, 2008)
 
Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-08-22 06:12:00
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© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains. 
 

Read More »Sa muslims detained at uganda airport

By Paul Craig Roberts

(source: The Wisdom Fund.org)

The BBC reported on July 4 that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US ballistic missile base in Poland was not directed at Russia.  The purpose of the base, she said, is to protect Poland from the Iranian threat.

Why would Iran be a threat to Poland? What happens to US credibility when the Secretary of State makes such a stupid statement?  Does Hillary think she is fooling the Russians?  Does anyone on earth believe her?  What is the point of such a transparent lie? To cover up an act of American aggression against Russia?

In the same breath Hillary warned of a “steel vise” of repression crushing democracy and civil liberties around the world. US journalists might wonder if she was speaking of the United States. Glenn Greenwald reported in Salon on July 4 that the US Coast Guard, which has no legislative authority, has issued a rule that journalists who come closer than 65 feet to BP clean-up operations in the Gulf of Mexico without permission will be punished by a $40,000 fine and one to five years in prison. The New York Times and numerous journalists report that BP, the US Coast Guard, Homeland Security, and local police are prohibiting journalists from photographing the massive damage from the continuing flow of oil and toxic chemicals into the Gulf.

Read More »Hillary clintons latest lies

Publication date: Sunday, 24th August, 2008

By Vision Reporter and Agencies

MUSLIM clerics and families of the arrested South African terror suspects have claimed that they are being subjected to Islamaphobia and terror profiling.

The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) in South Africa told local newspapers that it believed Islamic cleric Mufti Hussain Bhayat and Haroon Saley detained in Kampala on terrorism allegations are being subjected to Islamaphobic profiling.

The MJC and the Media Review Network (MRN) want South Africa Intelligence Minister, Ronnie Kasrils, to intervene in the case of the men being handled by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force. The MRN, by the weekend, was also preparing to send its chairperson, Iqbal Jassat, to accompany Zahid Asmal of Channel Islam International to Uganda to assess the case.

The MRN and MJC said they were outraged “that Muslims of undeniable integrity and a track-record of poverty alleviation have been profiled as ‘terrorists’.

“This feeds into the orchestrated frenzy of 42that can only be detrimental to the harmonious relationship currently enjoyed by our people on the continent,” the organisations commented.

The two were arrested at Entebbe International Airport on Monday with two other Ugandans Muslims who had gone to the airport to receive them. Security declined to reveal the identity of the locals.Radio Islam in South Africa reports that Bhayat lives in Lenasia, and Saley is a resident of Azaadville.

Army spokesperson Maj. Paddy Ankunda said the two were suspected of being involved in terrorism activities and that they had not been tortured.
“We are stilling holding them. We have got useful leads and still compiling more information.”

Yousha Tayob, who spoke on behalf of the suspects’ families said they had received acknowledgement from Uganda that Bhayat and Saley are in custody, but didn’t know why. “We are trying to establish consular access and that will tell us everything we need to know,” Tayob said. “We have been given no official reason,” he said over the weekend.

This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/646182
© Copyright 2000-2008 The New Vision. All rights reserved.

Read More »Families of terror suspects protest