More AQ Activity in West Africa
By Douglas Farah
A little-noticed case in Conakry, Guinea has some in the U.S. and European intelligence community abuzz. Two South Africans, both arrested with Ahmed Ghailani in Pakistan and then deported to South Africa, were recently arrested in Guinea, reportedly on their way to Sierra Leone. The arrests of Zubair Ismael and Dr. Mohammed Nazzal, who real name appears to be Feroz Ganchi, just before Christmas, was noted in the West African press but not picked up elsewhere. These arrests add weight to the evidence that al Qaeda continues to operate out of West Africa, and remains involved in the diamond trade, despite the notable lack of interest of the U.S. intelligence community.
Both men left South Africa and traveled to Pakistan for training. Ganchi, a medical doctor who was given the alias "Umer" by his al Qaeda contacts, traveled often to Pakistan and had bragged to co-workers in South Africa of knowning senior al Qaeda members. Ismael, 20, was reportedly studying at a madrasa there, studies his family confirmed they had raised money for. Ganchi reportedly treated Ghailani for an unknown medical condition while in the house in Gujrat. Ghailani, Ganchi and Ismael, along with 10 other people, were arrested in that al Qaeda safe house in late July 2004. Read Complete Blog here