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Mauritius: Osama Bin Laden Allegedly Linked To Squadron Of Death
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - The ongoing saga in Port Louis, Mauritius, over the Squadron of Death and the Hizbullah party has now spilled over into involvement by Osama Bin Laden, according to a United Press of India (UPI) report last week.
Mauritian police said two weeks ago they had information that Hizbullah (no relation to Lebanese Hezbollah) and its alleged spin off, the Squadron of Death, had received training in the manipulation of arms and other weapons in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Qatar.
The Squadron is accused of reigning terror and of having committed political murders on the orders of Hizbullah jailed leader Mohammed Cehl Meeah Fakeermeah.
According a local newspaper in Mauritius, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed the information released by UPI.
L’Express newspaper said the FBI also mentioned a list of 50 countries that are part of a worldwide network of "Jihad" belonging to bin Laden and his partisans.
The UPI report also stated that in Mauritius, the bin Laden group is being assisted undercover by Pakistani citizens either working on the tourist island or married to local Muslim women.
A partisan Mauritian press called bin Laden a “billionaire terrorist”, condemning him while no evidence exists on his alleged involvement in “terrorist” activities.
The UPI said Mauritius was part of the network being used by bin Laden to launder money. It also widely commented on the supposed activities of bin Laden, and of his financial operations.
The report carried an interview with Zalma Khalilzad, said to be an expert on international terrorism working for the U.S. Rand Corporation. Khalilzad told UPI the Saudi billionaire had indirect financial links in Karachi, Pakistan.
"From Pakistan, [bin] Laden organize[d] the money laundering in Great Britain, South Africa and Mauritius," Khalilzad said, adding that Pakistanis were used to transfer the laundered money through the network.
The UPI insisted that bin Laden’s network had worldwide influence and ramifications.
These accusations came a week after the opening of the case in Washington against four people suspected of being paid henchmen of bin Laden.
The Americans allege that bin Laden and his followers are implicated in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
The FBI states that bin Laden has established a network, which he finances, in North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans, Asia, Western Europe and the United States.
According to the Mauritian press, bin Laden is directly involved with several Muslim organizations in Mauritius.
An editorial in Le Mauricien daily pointed out that the Al Muhajiroon movement based in the United Kingdom, but with branches in several countries, had direct links with contacts of bin Laden in the U.K.
The Mauritian Hizbullah is also under probe for several high profile purchases it has made during the last five to seven years, involving large amounts of money.
A Sudanese link to the bin Laden group was also brought to light in another article that appeared in a confidential newsletter in the U.K.
The newsletter alleged that bin Laden’s group used Sudanese and Mauritians - possibly the Hizbullah and the Al Muhajiroon - to launder money through the Mauritian offshore sector.
The FBI estimates bin Laden’s network has $500 million at its disposal and has deposited it in the central bank of Sudan.
Another $200 million is said to be in the coffers of the Central Bank of Yemen and deposited under the names of bin Laden relatives.
Other bank accounts have been identified in Afghanistan, Pakistan Sudan, as well as Somalia, the UPI report said.
According to the U.K. confidential newsletter, Malaysia could not be counted out of bin Laden’s alleged money laundering system.
However, the report did not provide further details, only adding that Sudan was again used as an undercover laundering filter in the operations.
In Mauritius, the Squadron of Death’s case has taken a turn around with a series of arrests conducted by the police.
All of the arrested are Muslims, and are based on allegations made by a former member of the now disbanded and extinct Squadron.
Khadaffi Oozeer, arrested in November last year and found in possession of arms allegedly used in the murder of three political activists in 1996, made sensational allegations to the police.
His depositions to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) led to the end of what was known as the Squadron of Death, an underground armed group. One of the members of the group swallowed cyanide before being caught by police.
This week, spectacular allegations have turned the case into a soap opera in which Muslims have become the antagonists.
Oozeer has now launched allegations against members of the Muslim political elite and Muslim members of the police force.
His accusations have raised outcries in Mauritius with several politicians, including stalwart lawyer Yousouf Mohamed, criticizing the secretive nature of the investigation of the case.
Mohamed, whose son Shakeel Mohamed has been accused by Oozeer of being involved with the Squadron, said he was prepared to face the law but that he did not want a politically tainted police officer to interrogate his son.
Mohamed has accused Inspector Hurrydeo Raddhoa of having political motives in handling the Squadron case.
Cehl Meeah earlier accused the same inspector of having directed his men to manhandle and abuse him while in custody during the month of Ramadan.
Shakeel Mohamed has denied involvement in the Squadron and has denounced Oozeer’s contradictory depositions of those accused on involvement in the Squadron.
"There is a limit to everything. It is my grandfather, Sir Abdul Razack Mohamed, who strived to build the reputation of the family. Someone is trying to destroy that," he said.
Mauritian police are currently conducting the entire inquiry on Oozeer’s allegations, a regular patient at the Brown Sequard, a center for mentally ill persons.
Muslims in Mauritius see deep political ramifications in efforts of the new regime under Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth reopening a previously closed case concerning the 1996 murders of three activists.
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