SAfrica al Qaeda suspects seek US evidence

Johannesburg, Jan 24: A lawyer for two South African Muslims whom the United States wants on a UN Security Council list of people with ties to al Qaeda has asked Washington for evidence to back the allegations.

In a submission to the South African government, the UN Security Council and the US ambassador, lawyer Shaheed Dollie requested clarity to ensure that the constitutional rights of his clients, cousins Farhad and Junaid Docrat, are not violated.

The United States has submitted papers to the UN Security Council alleging the two men were involved in financing and facilitating for al Qaeda, but no UN decision had been made.

''...Our clients are willing to cooperate at every level, through our offices, with you, having due regard to our clients' constitutional rights, in a bid to clarify what appears to be a gross misunderstanding and a substantial error,'' said the submission.

Talks with US

Junaid, a Johannesburg dentist, and Farhad, a cleric who lives near Pretoria, have denied the allegations and say they have been harassed by security authorities in South Africa and elsewhere.

South Africa is holding talks with the United States on the allegations, said foreign ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.

He did not say whether South Africa, which currently holds a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, would object or if it felt Washington had sufficient evidence against the Docrats.

If they are placed on the US list of people with ties to al Qaeda and the toppled Taliban in Afghanistan, South Africa would be legally obliged to freeze their bank accounts and prevent them from travelling under U.N. resolutions.

Under UN procedures, the Security Council committee in charge of adding names to the list allows members a ''silence period'' in which to raise objections to any proposed listing.

But diplomats say such objections are rare because the country seeking the listing has to submit a detailed statement outlining the case, and normally tries to iron out any potential problems before the start of the ''silence period''.

In the Docrats' case, the names are expected to become final on Friday unless any member objects.

Dollie insisted his clients had the right to know why Washington has linked them to al Qaeda.

''After all, a listing which is made in the absence of our clients being heard would be draconian and unthinkable given the constitution of this country,'' said his submission.

In past cases, individuals placed on the list have complained of being unable to find out the evidence against them, which is often based on secret intelligence.

Junaid's father Ismail told Reuters today he suspects he was put on a US list of al Qaeda suspects because of his ''harmless'' friendships with Zubair Ismail and Feroz Ganchi, who were arrested in Pakistan in 2004 and later released.

The pair was caught with senior al Qaeda operative Ahmed Ghailani, a Tanzanian who was indicted as a conspirator in the United States for his alleged role in the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed 224 people.

Reuters