Thursday, May 27, 2004
S Africa foiled attack plot before April elections
Agence France-Presse Johannesburg, May 27
South African police foiled an attack plot by people five days before last month's elections in an operation that led to the arrest of Al-Qaeda members in Jordan, the state broadcaster reported on Thursday.
"We arrested some people who had evil intentions against this country - five days before the election. We got these people to leave," national police commissioner Jackie Selebi told parliament's safety and security committee in comments quoted by SABC news.
"The result is that you saw in Jordan, in and around those days, a number of people arrested who were Al-Qaeda. A number of people were arrested in Syria as a result of our operation.
Jordan foiled a massive chemical attack linked to Al-Qaeda in late April which resulted in six members of the network being arrested and four others killed in a series of raids.
"In part of this operation, in London, the British police found boxes of South African passports in the home of one of these people, or an associate of these people, which says to me there must be a link that people are able to acquire these documents," Selebi told parliament's safety and security committee Wednesday.
He made the remarks while speaking about the state's fight against corruption in the home affairs ministry.
Selebi did not elaborate and his office declined to give more details. South Africa held peaceful elections on April 14 which returned the ruling African National Congress to power and saw President Thabo Mbeki elected into a second five-year office term.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.