ACDP calls on government to investigate allegations of ISIS recruitment and funding from SA

An image taken from a propaganda video allegedly shows Isis members, among them a jihadist believed to be French citizen Maxime Hauchard, right. (PHOTO: AFP/Getty Images)
An image taken from a propaganda video allegedly shows Isis members, among them a jihadist believed to be French citizen Maxime Hauchard, right. (PHOTO: AFP/Getty Images)

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has called on the South African Government to investigate “concerns  and allegations that elements in SA are key players in facilitating funding and sending of recruits fighting alongside ISIS”.

The call is made by ACDP MP Cherylln Dudley in a press statement released on Tuesday (November 18) expressing condolences to the family and friends of Abdul-Rahman (Peter) Kassig, an American aid worker who has become the fifth westerner to be beheaded by the Islamist terrorist organisation which claims a stretch of territory in Syria and Iraq as an Islamic caliphate. Dudley does not disclose her source regarding alleged SA complicity in ISIS terror.

In an input she made on November 10 at the launch of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion and Belief (IPP) at the headquarters of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, Dudley said: “The ACDP has also been successful in placing the issue of Religious extremism and global terrorism on the agenda and encouraging the South African government to be unequivocal in statements denouncing the atrocities being done in the name of religion. We are also calling on government to investigate claims that many being sent to fight with ISIS are being facilitated by structures operating within the South African borders.

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“Linked to this I have had contact and met with the Ambassadors’ to SA from Iraq and Syria – to get their perspective and to make sure that any interventions we call for as a party will be relevant in improving and not further exacerbating the situation on the ground.

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Parliamentary leaders from 18 nations at the recent launch of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPP) in Oslo, Norway. ACDP MP, Cheryllyn Dudley (front, fourth from right) represented South Africa.
Parliamentary leaders from 18 nations at the recent launch of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPP) in Oslo, Norway. ACDP MP, Cheryllyn Dudley (front, fourth from right) represented South Africa.

“I have also stood side by side with a local Imam who was brave enough to hold an anti-ISIS rally and speak against the atrocities being done in the name of religion. Freedom of Religion, conscience and belief – as complex as they might be – are extremely important and must be prioritised to the same degree as other human rights or democracy will be seriously undermined.

“I would like to ask the IPP to initiate research into global facilitation of funding and sending of ISIS recruits to terrorise people and destabilise governments – in order to equip IPP delegates to call on governments to put in place relevant and effective measures to counter activities by those facilitating the funding and sending of recruits.”

According to a recent report prepared for the United Nations security council, some 15 000 foreign fighters from 80 countries have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join jihadist groups like ISIS. But to date there have been no confirmed records of SA recruits or SA-based funding of ISIS and Muslim bodies in SA have denounced ISIS atrocities.

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In a grisly online ISIS propaganda video released on Sunday showing the severed head of American aid worker Peter Kassig a procession of foreign-looking recruits is shown trudging through a desertscape in military fatigues, on their way to kill soldiers captured from Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s military, reports The Guardian.

Unlike in previous ISIS videos, the faces of the 15 or so executioners are not hidden. The camera lingers on the faces of the killers – several of whom are believed by western intelligence services to come from Britain, France and elsewhere in Europe. One of them appears to be a long-haired 22-year-old from Normandy named Maxime Hauchard.

UK police are also investigating claims that Briton Nasser Muthana, a 20-year-old medical student from Cardiff, was featured in the video. Muthana has previously been seen in an ISIS propaganda film.

While the camera darts past the Arabs on the death march, it highlights men whose “physical features appear central Asian, south-west Asian, as opposed to Iraqi or Syrian physical features”, said Robert McFadden, a former special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, now with the Soufan Group consultancy.

The prominent role given to foreign recruits in the group’s propaganda intensifies a pattern established when Isis released footage showing a masked man with an English accent announcing the killing US journalist James Foley. The masked man – dubbed Jihadi John in media reports – has appeared in several other videos, and westerners, foreigners and particularly English-speakers have been a staple of Isis video propaganda ever since.

Not only does the presence of the foreigners send a distinctly threatening message to their home governments, analysts say, it helps ISIS advance an argument about its legitimacy to skeptical jihadists.

In the new video, Jihadi John, the British recruit whom UK investigators are still attempting to identify, pledges that “tomorrow” Isis will kill US troops, some 3 000 of whom Obama has ordered to Iraq.

“The Islamic State will soon, like your puppet David Cameron said, will begin to slaughter your people on your streets,” he said.

7 Comments

  1. As they begin to flee from the Kurds in Kobane, so does darkness flee and hide from the Light

  2. ACDP thank you en please keep up the good work. May God have mercy on SA.

  3. My wife had a dream in March that the ISLAMIC MOVEMENT( SHARIA LAW) is infiltrating the ANC and taking away the possessions of Christians.
    We are fast asleep allowing the enemy in our home , buying food with Halal content their Shekel and Half moon we bring it in our homes,WE ALLOW THEM TO BULLY WOOLWORTH S AND ISRAEL. The bible say the GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST US BUT WE ALLOW IT!!! They stand together but we dont! What are we going to do about this taking a back seat? LET ME TELL YOU ISIS IS IN EVERY COUNTRY OF THE WORLD WAITING FOR THE ORDER TO STRIKE < AGAIN YOU WILL ONLY BELIEVE ME WHEN IT HAPPEN! Yes the ANC`S new world order plan is also part of it. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152370109478914&set=a.417391108913.195383.812353913&type=3&theater,

  4. God bless ACDP. Christians must stand together and let thier voices be heard.

  5. Yes, why don’t Christians stand together? I have been with the ACDP since 1994. My sad experience has been that generally, the last people to support a Christian party is the church! The Christians!
    Something is seriously wrong!
    It would seem that we so called Christians would rather vote for Secular Humanism or criminals. Something is seriously wrong! God will bless the Christians, the church and the country when we stand together. After all unity is strength. There God commands His blessing.
    WAKE UP CHURCH!! WAKE UP CHURCH! THE JUDGEMENT OF GOD COMES BY BEING OVERRUN BY THE UNGODLY. Before God there is always a choice! Choose life! Why do you want to die! Life is only found in Him. Choose life!!!

  6. Personally, I am tired of the Muslims and their “faith”. Seems as though Islam is a religion of murder and terrorism, a religion that is totally intolerant of anyone but themselves. Perhaps we should start a “Woolworths” type boycott and picketing of Muslim owned shops? Or is this too radicle for Christians?…

  7. Money paid to ANY Muslim ‘organization can easily find its way into the hands of Islamic extremist-fanatics and murderers, irrespective of assurances to the contrary. What other assurances do we accept from Muslims? Oh, that’s right, ‘Islam is a religion of PEACE’!

    Muslims are bullying large commercial organizations into paying what is no more than blatant extortion money. The amazing part is that these weak-kneed organizations (Cadbury/ Schweppes/ Nestles/ Kraft etc.) actually pay the large sums demanded by these self-appointed religious bureaucrats. And the manufacturers promptly pass this levy on to unwitting consumers as cost increases. Next time you buy a block of Cadbury’s chocolate, look for the Halal Certification seal on the wrapper. So, regardless of your own religious faith, you end up subsidizing Islam. riebeeckministries@gmail.com