More AQ Activity in West Africa, and a New Link

A little-noticed case in Conakry, Guinea has some in the U.S. and European intelligence community abuzz. Two South Africans, both arrested with Ahmed Ghailani in Pakistan and then deported to South Africa, were recently arrested in Guinea, reportedly on their way to Sierra Leone. The arrests of Zubair Ismael and Dr. Mohammed Nazzal, who real name appears to be Feroz Ganchi, just before Christmas, was noted in the West African press but not picked up elsewhere. These arrests add weight to the evidence that al Qaeda continues to operate out of West Africa, and remains involved in the diamond trade, despite the notable lack of interest of the U.S. intelligence community.

Both men left South Africa and traveled to Pakistan for training. Ganchi, a medical doctor who was given the alias "Umer" by his al Qaeda contacts, traveled often to Pakistan and had bragged to co-workers in South Africa of knowning senior al Qaeda members. Ismael, 16, was reportedly studying at a madrasa there, studies his family confirmed they had raised money for. Ganchi reportedly treated Ghailani for an unknown medical condition while in the house in Gujrat. Ghailani, Ganchi and Ismael, along with 10 other people, were arrested in that al Qaeda safe house in late July 2004. While Ghailani's capture garnered the most attention, the South Africans appear to have remained operational. They were both held for two days upon their return to South Africa, and then freed. According to South African press reports from the time, one of the suspects had an explosives vest strapped to his body when he was arrested. Shortly before he was arrested, he threatened to detonate the devise, whihc was filled with unknown chemicals and 10 kilos of plastic explosives, the press accounts said, quoting senior South African intelligence officials.

The connection to Ghailani is interesting, because he was one of the main al Qaeda operatives involved in the Sierra Leone-Liberia diamond mining in late 2000 until shortly before 9-11. He hung around Liberia and Burkina Faso for several weeks after the 9-11 attacks, enjoying the protection of Charles Taylor and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.

The question European intel sources are asking is what the means about al Qaeda's current financial structure. Is the group still interested in the diamond trade, and if so, is it to hide financial assets, or is it an attempt to raise money? AQ has done both before in the region. No word yet on how long the two will be held in Guinea, what they could be charged with or what their fate will be.

Finally, there is a new counter-terrorism blog, to which I am a contributor, that is well worth checking out. It can be found here.