South Africa on Thursday said that it had handed over a Pakistani national and alleged terror suspect to Pakistani officials, following claims by his lawyer that he had been turned over to US intelligence agents or their allies. Khalid Rashid “was an illegal foreigner in South Africa. He was arrested and deported to his country of origin, Pakistan,” the Home Ministry said in a statement. “(The) government can confirm that he was handed over to Pakistani officials who travelled to South Africa to receive him,” it said, adding that Islamabad had “acknowledged in writing that he arrived in Pakistan on November 6, 2005. Therefore, further information on his whereabouts should be sought from Pakistan. Our responsibility ... is not only to implement laws pertaining to illegal immigration; but also to protect our country from being used either as a hide-out or as a base for terrorist activities.”
Rashid’s lawyer Zahir Omar plans to ask the ministers of home affairs, intelligence and security to testify in court to establish the whereabouts of Rashid Khalid. “I suspect he is being detained in an American detention centre in a former Soviet country,” Omar said on Wednesday. Omar said that he had obtained an intelligence report to the home affairs minister stating that British authorities suspected Khalid of having links to an international terrorist network. “The reason for Rashid’s abduction was the mere suspicion that he was linked to international terrorism,” Omar said, adding that while he had some ties to the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, he was “not a major player”.
| In a just world he'd be a dead player. But I'll settle for him being on his way to Diego Garcia, or at least talking to large Bulgarian men with truncheons... |