Al Qaeda man with fake SA passport

A South African passport found on the body of Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, thought to have been an Al-Qaeda operative, is a fake, Department of Home Affairs Director General Mkuseli Apleni says

He said the fake passport was based on the previous passport design and not on the new passport design.

The passport was found on Muhammad, who was killed at the weekend in Mogadishu.

“Our investigations have revealed without equivocation that the passport was not an authentic South African passport, but a fake.”   

He said that the passport had also not been issued by any South African authority and there was no record of the passport being used to enter or leave South Africa.

He was the suspected head of Al-Qaeda in East Africa.

According to a report quoting a Somali source close to the investigation, Muhammad was in possession of a South African passport in the name of Daniel Robinson. It gave his year of birth as 1971.

The Freedom Front plus reacted to the news this week by saying the SA government needed to fix South Africa’s reputation for fake travel documents.

“Every now and then one or other criminal appears somewhere in the world with a South African passport,” said FF Plus spokesman Corne Mulder.

“There is a great responsibility on the ANC government to repair the reputation of South African travel documents. Stricter border control is necessary because under the ANC, South Africa has become  the hiding place for every second fugitive and crook.”   

• Mulder also expressed concern about reports that Muhammad had been in South Africa until March 19.