Two South Africans on Wednesday remained adamant they are not linked to terror group al-Qaeda, but were silent on South African government moves to put on hold their listing as terrorists by the United Nations Security Council.
”… There is nothing further to state in any further press release, other than our clients’ emphasis that they are innocent,” said Shaheed Dollie, attorney representing Junaid and Farhad Dockrat.
Asking the media to respect the privacy of his clients, Dollie said he had advised Junaid and Farhad to refrain from commenting on the issue as it may jeopardise the principle of them being innocent until proven guilty.
”As a matter of principle, it would not be fair for our clients to make any further comment without knowing the details of the allegations against them,” he said.
”Our legal system is based upon the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty and to require further comment from our clients at this juncture would, in terms of our advice, undermine this principle.”
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said the government’s decision to ask the Security Council to hold off on listing the two should not be seen as a sign that South Africa is going soft on terrorism, but rather that it wants to make sure about the facts.
He added that several countries, including the United States, Britain and France, had previously asked for a hold on the listing of their citizens on the list.
Junaid Dockrat, a dentist from Mayfair, Johannesburg, and his cousin, Farhad Ahmed Dockrat, have been named by the United States government as terror suspects with links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and the deposed Taliban in Afghanistan.
Farhad has been accused of financing the al-Akthar Trust, already listed as an al-Qaeda financier by the Security Council. Junaid has been accused of recruiting for al-Qaeda from South Africa in 2004.
Senior researcher in terrorism at the Institute for Security Studies, Anneli Botha, on Wednesday said there was a chance the names of the two South Africans would not eventually appear on the list.
”A process is followed before their names can be listed … A committee including all members of the Security Council, of which South Africa is part, will decide,” she said.
Consensus would have to be reached that the two were ”facilitators and terrorist financiers” for Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.
”The listing of the [al-Akthar] trust was first proposed in 2003. At that stage Pakistan was a member and blocked it … Only in 2005 was the trust listed,” she said.
On the kind of evidence the US could have against the two, Botha said intelligence from around the world, especially Pakistan, could have raised a red flag.
Under UN guidelines, the Dockrats face the freezing of their assets and bank accounts and prohibitions on worldwide trade and travel if they are named on the list.
Full investigation
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA) foreign affairs spokesperson Douglas Gibson on Wednesday said the US should provide South Africa with evidence proving why the two nationals should be listed as terrorists by the UN.
”If there is no evidence, the Dockrats must be allowed to go about their everyday lives free from the stigma attached to being associated with terrorism,” he said.
Gibson said the government should proceed with caution over the listing, being careful not to be seen as harbouring terrorists while following due process protecting the rights of its citizens
”The accusation that the Dockrat cousins are linked to al-Qaeda is serious and must be investigated fully by the authorities,” Gibson said. — Sapa