Posted on 07/28/2004 6:14:18 AM PDT by RS
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Al-Qaeda militants and other terrorists traveling through Europe have obtained South African passports, and authorities believe they received them from crime syndicates operating inside the government agency that issues the documents. The illicit acquisition of the passports, which allow travel through many African countries and Britain without visas, sent shock waves through South Africa after one top police official said "boxes and boxes" of the documents were discovered in London.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
Interesting......check out this arrest @ the TX border last week.....**must be just a coincidence**
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1177157/posts
(snip)
"Investigators found travel itineraries showing that Ahmed flew from South Africa to London, via the United Arab Emirates on July 8. Six days later, Ahmed flew from London to Mexico City."
".....**must be just a coincidence** "
If todays news was a follow-up from it, it's nice to see that someone is finally getting up to speed.
From your linked article-
"She was also carrying a bag of wet, muddy clothes with her travel documents."
Ya think that might have been the tip-off to the agents ?
Nice to see that the bad guys can be pretty stupid at times!
Found another link that also 'ties' our threads.........too bad these missing SA passports have to be reported in the news *before* our guys seem to know about them.
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=132&fArticleId=2166843
"In Texas, Eddie Rios, a spokesperson for the US Border Patrol at McAllen, said the agency had not been told that South African passports were being used by terrorists."
You're right, but EVERY case of blank passports being mis-directed should be flagged in the daily notices given our guys. Waiting until after they are found in the hands of terrorists is too late allready.
Hmm - just noticed she was a South African woman, so this was a legitimate passport - had nothing to do with the stolen ones or terrorists...
OOPS !!!
Too bad I had to leave this AM.......think the gov't is reading FR ???.......Now that gov't has *connected* our two threads, & investigated, they think this invader might have ties to Al-Qaida.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1180328/posts
Al-Qaida Suspect Arrested in Texas Updated: Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2004 - 1:00 PM By J.J. Green FederalNewsRadio.com A South African woman picked up in Texas almost 10 days ago may turn out to be a key, high-level al-Qaida operative. Her name is Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed. She was stopped at McAllen Miller International Airport on July 19 headed to New York. Eddie Flores of the U.S. Border Patrol office in McAllen, Texas tells FederalNewsRadio.com that a review of her papers raised some concerns.
"In looking at her documents, they did not find any entry documents in her passport where she was legally admitted into the United States," says Flores.
Ahmed produced a South African passport to the agents with four pages torn out, and with no U.S. entry stamps. Ahmed reportedly later confessed to investigators that she entered the country illegally by crossing the Rio Grande River. Ahmed was carrying travel itineraries showing a July 8 flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to London. Six days later, Ahmed traveled from London to Mexico City before attempting to travel from McAllen to New York.
Government sources tell FederalNewsRadio.com that capturing this woman could be comparable to the arrest of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. It was revealed in court Tuesday that she was on a watch list and had entered the U.S. possibly as many as 250 times. Tuesday, the South African government issued a warning that Al-Qaida militants and other terrorists traveling through Europe had obtained South African passports, and authorities believe they got them from crime syndicates operating inside the government agency that issues the documents. (Copyright 2004 FederalNewsRadio.com. All rights reserved.)
bump
Yep ... gotta watch every second :-)
It was obvious she had snuck in, so the lack of a visa and entry stamps fits, but the missing pages is a real no-no.
Still strange that she didn't get a whole new one, and held onto the wet clothes.
Let get her into Abu Grahib and put some Joe Boxers on her head !
You know I questioned if maybe this woman was a 'pawn' at the airport while her traveling companions were loaded into trucks to make the trip north.
Something is *strange* about this whole story & I sure hope our gov't figures it out. (is it still so easy to enter the US that even terrorists don't take much precaution ??)....(tunnels ??)
Didn't the latest story say this same woman had made some 250 in & out of the US, most illegally ??.......Yikes !!
Here's the thread from last week if you missed it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1177157/posts
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