[Weekly Standard] Jonathan Schanzer - In early May, South Africa's intelligence minister, Ronnie Kasrils, invited Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas member and prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, to lead a delegation to South Africa. In June 2003, South Africa's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Aziz Pahad, met with representatives of Hizbullah. Overtures to Hamas and Hizbullah are indicative of Pretoria's utter indifference to the threat of radical Islamic ideologies and violence. The worst consequence of this blindness may be the creation of a safe haven for terrorists in South Africa itself. According to one reported U.S. intelligence estimate, al-Qaeda leaders are operating throughout South Africa. Other reports indicate that terrorists are exploiting the country's banking system, and that South African passports are finding their way to al-Qaeda operatives worldwide. As a result, Washington must keep an eye on one more potential source of danger: South Afristan.
2007-06-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive