[Peace-discuss] Snowball, er, Al Qaeda spotted in Latin America

[Ricky Baldwin]

This article doesn't mention Chavez and the recent
vote in Venezuela, but I'm sure that's an oversight. 
I'd file this one in your "October Surprise" files,
folks, if I were you.

Ricky

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Al-Qaida Said to Recruit in Latin America
 
22 Aug 2004

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer 

MONTERREY, Mexico - Governments throughout Mexico and
Central America are on alert as evidence grows that
al-Qaida members are traveling in the region and
looking for recruits to carry out attacks in Latin
America — the potential last frontier for
international terrorism. 

The territory could be a perfect staging ground for
Osama bin Laden's militants, with homegrown rebel
groups, drug and people smugglers, and corrupt
governments. U.S. officials have long feared al-Qaida
could launch an attack from south of the border, and
they have been paying closer attention as the number
of terror-related incidents has increased since last
year. 

The strongest possible al-Qaida link is Adnan G. El
Shukrijumah, a 29-year-old Saudi pilot suspected of
being a terrorist cell leader. The FBI issued a
border-wide alert earlier this month for Shukrijumah,
saying he may try to cross into Arizona or Texas. 

In June, Honduran officials said Shukrijumah was
spotted earlier this year at an Internet cafe in
Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Panamanian
officials say the pilot and alleged bombmaker passed
through their country before the Sept. 11 attacks on
the United States. 

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in May singled out
Shukrijumah as one of seven especially dangerous
al-Qaida-linked terror figures wanted by the
government, which fears a new al-Qaida attack. A $5
million reward is posted for information leading to
his capture. 

Mexican and U.S. border officials have been on extra
alert, checking foreign passports and arresting any
illegal migrants. In a sign of a growing Mexican
crackdown, eight people from Armenia, Iran and Iraq
were arrested Thursday in Mexicali on charges they may
have entered Mexico with false documents, although
they did not appear to have any terrorist ties. 

Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, Mexico's top
anti-crime prosecutor, said Mexican officials have no
evidence that Shukrijumah — or any other al-Qaida
operatives — are in Mexico. But Mexican authorities
are investigating and keeping a close eye on the
airports and borders. 

"The alert has been sounded," Vasconcelos told The
Associated Press last month. 
In Central America, Honduran Security Minister Oscar
Alvarez said officials have uncovered evidence that
terrorists, likely from al-Qaida, may be trying to
recruit Hondurans to carry out attacks in Central
America. He did not offer details. 

El Salvador authorities last week reinforced security
at the country's international airport and along the
borders after purported al-Qaida threats appeared on
the Internet against their country for supporting the
U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. President Tony Saca,
undeterred, is sending the country's third
peacekeeping unit — 380 troops — to Iraq. 

Terrorists have struck in Asia, Europe, Africa, the
Middle East and the United States. Latin America could
be next, analysts say, especially as it becomes harder
to operate elsewhere. 

"If there is a crackdown, they are going to pick up
shop and move," said Matt Levitt, a terrorism analyst
and senior fellow at the Washington Institute. 

Officials worry the Panama Canal could be a likely
target. In 2003, boats making more than 13,000 trips
through the waterway carried about 188 million tons of
cargo. 
Earlier this month, the United States and seven Latin
American countries — including Argentina, Chile,
Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Peru and
Panama — carried out a weeklong anti-terror exercise
aimed at protecting the canal. 

In South America, U.S. officials have long suspected
Paraguay's border with Brazil and Argentina as an area
for Islamic terrorist fund-raising. Much of the focus
has fallen on the Muslim community that sprouted
during the 1970s, and authorities believe as much as
$100 million a year flows out of the region, with
large portions diverted to Islamic militants linked to
Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. 

The more immediate concern is Mexico, which shares a
porous, 2,000-mile border with the United States and
is the home to widespread organized crime. 

In December, Mexican officials canceled two Aeromexico
flights from Mexico City to Los Angeles, and a third
was forced to turn around after takeoff because of
terrorism concerns.

 At the time, the United States, Canada and Interpol
told Mexico that officials suspected terrorists might
be using Mexican soil to plan an attack, Vasconcelos
said. 
Concerns increased this summer about whether Mexico
was doing enough to screen international visitors
after a 48-year-old South African woman arrived in
Mexico with a passport that was missing several pages
and then waded across the Rio Grande into Texas. 

Farida Goolam Mahamed Ahmed was arrested July 19 while
trying to board a flight in McAllen, Texas. She
pleaded innocent Friday to immigration violations and
was under investigation for links to terrorist
activities or groups. Court testimony indicated she
traveled from Johannesburg on July 8, via Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, to London, then to Mexico City
on or about July 14. The countries she traveled
through do not require South Africans to have visas. 

Mexican officials said Ahmed was not stopped upon
entering Mexico because her name did not appear on any
international terrorist watch-lists. 

Mexican officials say they are closely scrutinizing
visa requests from the Middle East and have heightened
surveillance at the nation's largest airports since
Sept. 11. 

"The requirements for a visa for people from the
Middle East have not changed, but all requests are
being checked more thoroughly," said Mauricio Juarez,
a spokesman with Mexico's Migration Institute. 

The country is a popular U.S. entry point for people
trying to sneak into the United States, and the
majority — 46 percent — of all people arrested on
immigration violations in Mexico come from Brazil. The
rest are largely from the Americas, China or
Singapore. 

It has become nearly impossible for people from Muslim
countries to get visas to come to Mexico since the
Sept. 11 attacks. 

Fayesa Amin, a 37-year-old Pakistani, started the
process to get a Mexican visa two months before she
was to attend a wedding in Mexico. The Mexican
consulate in Karachi asked her to fill out several
forms and to turn in copies of her credit card and
bank statements for a full year. 

Amin, who runs three beauty salons in Pakistan, said
Mexican authorities told her a visa had been approved
and it could be picked up in London. But Mexican
officials there said her visa was being held in
Ankara, Turkey. In the end, she ended up spending her
holiday stranded in London. 

"I knew it would be hard to get to that part of the
world and that everything had become more difficult,"
Amin said in a telephone interview from Islamabad.
"But I didn't realize how hard it could be." 




		
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