Malawi terror suspects block exile

By Raphael Tenthani
BBC, Blantyre

A Malawi court has ordered the authorities not to deport five alleged al-Qaeda members.

The five foreign nationals were arrested over the weekend.

The judge ordered the government to produce Ibrahim Itabaci and the other suspects in court

Sources privy to the operation told BBC News Online that they were arrested in a joint operation by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Malawi's National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).

Blantyre lawyer Shabir Latif told High Court judge Justice Healey Potani that his clients were arrested without being told what crime they had allegedly committed.

"They were treated without dignity as they were handcuffed, blind-folded and transferred to Lilongwe where they are being kept in an unknown location and are said to be awaiting deportation to an unknown destination on suspicion of being members of al-Qaeda," he said.

Mr Latif alleged that the Malawi Government wants to hand over the five to the CIA who would - according to him - take them to Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba where other al-Qaeda suspects - especially those arrested in Afghanistan - are being detained.

"Security officers without a warrant searched their houses and seized their computers and confiscated their money," he said.

Charities

The lawyer described the methods used in the arrest of the five as "unconstitutional and unlawful for it violates the right to freedom of movement, the right of all people not to be discriminated against on grounds of race or origin or nationality".

Several terror attacks in East Africa have been blamed on al-Qaeda

Justice Potani, in his order granting the injunction, ordered the government to bring the five detainees before a court of law within 48 hours to be told of their offence under Malawi laws or any international legal instruments or release them on bail.

The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has since indicated that it would challenge the injunction.

The arrested al-Qaeda suspects include:

• Mahmud Sardar Issa, a Sudanese national who heads the charitable Islamic Zakat Fund Trust in Blantyre;
• Fahad Ral Bahli, a Saudi national who is Malawi Branch Director of the Registered Trustees of the Prince Sultan Bin Aziz Special Committee on Relief;
• Turkish nationals Arif Ulusam, a Blantyre restaurant owner, and Ibrahim Itabaci, executive director of Bedir International School;
• Kenyan national Khalifa Abdi Hassan, an Islamic scholar hired by the Moslem Association of Malawi.

According to the sources, al-Qaeda wanted to use their charitable organisations to channel money from Asia - where al-Qaeda is based - to fund operations in Africa and beyond.