ISLAMABAD, July 28: The interior ministry on Wednesday said that two of the terrorists arrested from Gujrat were South Africans and one was Tanzanian. Talking to Dawn, the interior ministry's spokesman, Rauf Chaudhry, said the investigation agencies have so far not disclosed the names of the South Africans.
However, one of the two South Africans is believed to be a student of Islamic studies and the other a Johannesburg doctor. And both are said to be from Laudium, South Africa.
When asked if the investigation agencies had found any link between the two South Africans and Al Qaeda, the spokesman said it was too early to say anything about it. Asked whether the South African High Commission had sought confirmation of the South Africans' identity, Mr Chaudhry said the embassy had not contacted the interior ministry so far. He said the foreign office might have been contacted in this regard.
However, the spokesman confirmed that the two South African nationals were not studying in Pakistan but had come to Pakistan two months ago on visit visas. "We are trying to find out the exact dates of their arrival and the purpose of their visit," he added.
South African foreign affairs officials are reportedly trying to gain access to the pair to confirm their identities. When contacted, Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan said he was not aware whether the officials of South Africa had contacted the foreign office to know the identity of the two suspects.
He said two of the suspects were South African nationals, one was Tanzanian and one from Kenya. Thirteen people, including women and children, were arrested from a house in Gujrat after a 15-hour stand-off with police on Sunday.
Another interior ministry official told Dawn that the arrested South Africans had been trying to flee Pakistan with their families, using fake travelling documents.
"They had lived in Afghanistan and fought alongside the Taliban," the official claimed. According to reports police had raided houses in Multan, Sahiwal and Gujrat to apprehend the South Africans. In this connection the police also raided Faisal Hotel in Gujrat.