Bin Laden deemed SA ‘open territory’

into other people’s fights,” he said.

In a policy brief in April, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reported on concerns that radical Islamist organisations could be using South Africa as a hub for logistical reasons.

It said that, since 2010, there had been various allegations linking the country to Islamist groups.

“Several Islamist fighters have been apprehended with South African passports, including top al-Qaeda militant Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who was killed in 2011, and the infamous ‘White Widow’, Samantha Lewthwaite, who is believed to have lived in Johannesburg.”

It was not clear exactly how many South Africans had travelled to fight with IS in Syria and Iraq, said the ISS.

But the institute believed the country could be “attractive” for IS recruitment.

“South African recruits

Mama Taxi

seem more likely to come from average-income families, which reduces the financial burden their recruitment would otherwise pose.

“Most of the recruits could therefore take care of their own travel arrangements, though some still require financial and technical support,” it said in the brief.

Analysts have described the so-called Abbottabad Papers, a trove of documents captured by US forces during its raid on the compound of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, as “worrisome”.

Assessing the documents in 2012 when some of them were declassified, the UK- based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a think tank, reported that South Africa was on al-Qaeda’s radar. “Bin Laden thought of SA as an open territory – an area where al-Qaeda operatives could target Americans. It is not clear whether al- Qaeda or allied groups tried to make good on its leader’s thoughts,” it said. TIDES High today ......... 1.12pm, 1.29pm Tomorrow .......... 1.58am, 2.13pm Low today .......... 7.18am, 7.49pm Tomorrow .......... 8.03am, 8.32pm Spring tides ...................... Nov 14 ......................................... Nov 29 Neap Tides ....................... Nov 21 ........................................... Dec 7 SUN/MOON Sunrise today .................. 5.37am Sunset today ................... 7.24pm Moon rises today ............. 5.03pm Moon sets tomorrow 4.09am Spring Tides: Nu + Full Moon Nov 14 Nov 29 Neap Tides: 1st + Last ¼ 21 Dec 7 Nov