SA lensman spends birthday in captivity

GIFT of the Givers is hoping that behind-the-scenes negotiations will help to secure the release of South African photographer Shiraaz Mohamed.

This week, Mohamed celebrated his 39th birthday in captivity, as those seeking his release are still trying to work out why he is still being held.

“There are a lot of things happening in the background which I can’t speak about at the moment, but everyone we speak to says that there is no reason why he should be held,” said Imtiaz Sooliman, the founder of Gift of the Givers.

Sooliman said that they believed that there was an “agenda”, which was why the photographer was taken.

“If he had been taken by Isis there would either have been a demand for a ransom, or they would have executed him.”

Mohamed was kidnapped by a group of men close to the Turkish border in January. He had gone to Syria with Gift of the Givers.

Before taking him away, they allegedly asked him a series of questions that included if he was a Muslim, a foreigner, and if he had a passport.

He was also asked about a Turkish delegation that had passed through earlier, and if he knew well-known Syrian doctor, Ahmad Ghandour.

Initially, the armed men who kidnapped Mohamed said they would release him within 48 hours. Later in January, Bakar al-Maharmel, director of the Truth Collective South Africa (TCSA), said he saw a video clip on the cellphone of a mediator of Mohamed.

A prison swop was to be organised through the South African and Syrian governments, the Red Cross and a rebel organisation, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. But months later, no one appears sure who is holding Mohamed.

“We haven’t made any progress. We still don’t know who captured him, who is holding him, and no one has approached about a ransom,” said the spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Co- operation Nelson Kgwete.

But Sooliman believes that progress is being made.

A task team has been set up that includes Anis al-Hamati, the negotiator who helped secure the release of Yolande Korkie, in Yemen. “Our task team has become so much bigger, and so has our co-operation with people within Syria,” said Sooliman.

He said there have been raids to try to find the kidnappers. “They are saying this is an insult to us, especially as we are helping people in Syria. They have said they want to catch these people.”

Shiraaz Mohamed