The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) says it is shocked by claims by South African State Security that they were not aware that ISIS was recruiting South Africans to fight in Iraq and Syria.
In a media statement released today the ACDP says that Iraq’s Ambassador to South Africa, Dr Hashaim al-Alawi has confirmed the recruitment by ISIS in South Africa and has said he shared the information with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. So far, he said three South Africans fighting for the terrorist group have died and their deaths were subsequently claimed to have been in car accidents, says the ACDP.
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” If the statement by Dr al-Alawi is true, then we advise them [SA State Security] to establish from the Iraqis how they acquired this intelligence,” says the ACDP statement.
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According to recent media reports, al-Alawi has said that recruitment and fund-raising for ISIS was being carried out by groups in South Africa positioning themselves as offering humanitarian assistance.
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Call for parliamentary debate on Christian persecution
Calling for a parliamentary debate on worldwide persecution of Christians “as soon as it is practically possible” the ACDP notes that many Christian researchers and monitoring groups have concluded that the evidence of Islamic militants’ hostility towards Christians is overwhelming, with very limited attention given to it in the international community. Christians have become the most oppressed class in Pakistan.
The statement continues: “2012 was one of the worst years of Christian persecution against the religious minorities in Pakistan, when hundreds of Christians and Hindu girls were abducted, raped, and forcibly converted to Islam.
“And in Syria there are reports of Christians in the northern part of the country being targeted with rape, kidnapping and murder by extremists. Christian churches have also been vandalised throughout the country.
“The same is happening in Nigeria, Kenya and Sudan.
“The British Parliament debated this worldwide persecution of Christians some time ago. One British MP called it ‘the biggest story in the world that has never been told’.”
The statement concludes: “After his visit to the Middle East in December last year, Prince Charles said Christians in the Middle East are being ‘deliberately attacked’ in a campaign of persecution led by Islamist militants.
“Many minority religious organisations have fled the region in the turmoil following the Arab Spring, and in Egypt particularly violence against Coptic Christians saw a marked increase after Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown.
” ‘For 20 years, I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity and to dispel ignorance and misunderstanding,’ Prince Charles said.
” ‘Christianity was, literally, born in the Middle East and we must not forget our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters in Christ,’ he said.”
Why were the police (not local cops) looking for the White Widow (Samantha Lewthwaite) at a madressa in Sherwood in Durban? She also had a fake South African passport that gave a long-term Sherwood resident’s address. Surely this wasn’t an isolated incident? Is the SASS slipping up?