Passports sold to al-Qaeda by corrupt S. Afrian officials

Members of terrorist network al-Qaeda arrested in April with copies of South African passports must have bought the documents from South Africa's corrupt home affairs officials, the country's Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said Tuesday.

Mapisa-Nqakula told members of the South African parliament in Cape Town: "A few weeks ago members of al-Qaeda were arrested withour passports. A member of the department must have sold them those passports. It must have been a syndicate... we are trying to break these syndicates."

She said: "We are working with safety and security, police... to rid our department of them." She confirmed there was corruptionin her department.

"I am sure that the department of home affairs is the lead department in corruption. If there is an illegal immigrant scam ora marriage scam, then the department must be involved," the minister said.

She was quoted by South African Press Association as saying: "You read every month about the arrests going on... we are doing something about it."

She said most arrests were a result of investigations started by the department's anti-corruption unit and then taken over by police.

Last month, South Africa announced its police foiled an attack plot by al-Qaeda suspects five days before the country's April 14th general elections, leading to arrests in Jordan, Syria and Britain. But the government didn't give details.

In part of this operation in London, the British police found boxes and boxes of South African passports in the home of one of the suspects, according to a report last month.

Source: Xinhua