S. African Authorities: Arrested, Deported Individuals Linke

 

Challiss McDonough

South Africa's national police commissioner¹ says authorities arrested and deported³ several individuals linked to the global al-Qaida terror network last month. It is the first time the government has documented activity of al-Qaida in South Africa.

National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi says the arrest of several people linked to al-Qaida in South Africa led to raids and arrests in Jordan, Syria and Great Britain.

He made the surprise announcement Wednesday while speaking to the parliamentary committee on safety and security, but the local news media only reported the news the following day.

Mr. Selebi says the arrests were carried out shortly before South Africa's general election, which took place on April 14.

"We arrested some people who had evil intentions against this country," he said. "We did not tell anybody. Five days before the election, we got these people to leave. One of them, the result is that you saw in Jordan in and around those days a number of people who were called al-Qaida were arrested in Jordan. It was a result of our operation. A number of people were arrested in Syria. It was as a result of our operation."

Mr. Selebi did not give many more details of the operation. He did not say who the alleged⁴ operatives were, where they were from, where they were arrested or what they were believed to be planning.

The police commissioner's spokeswoman refused to comment when contacted by VOA.

Although South Africa has faced domestic terrorism in the past, this is the first time the government has revealed documented activity by an international terrorist network such as al-Qaida. Terrorism researchers are frustrated⁵ by the lack of details. Analyst⁶ Anneli Botha of the Institute for Security Studies in Cape⁷ Town says she needs more information before she can evaluate the extent of the threat.

"The conditions for the arrest in the first place is quite interesting," she said. "I would like, I think we all would like, to have more information about what the conditions were for the arrest and what were they arrested for? And what happened after that? Were there communications between our government and those countries? So it is a lot of questions that one would ask, and whether we would be able to get the answers is a different situation."

It does seem clear however that South African police are continuing to investigate whatever local connections the alleged al-Qaida operatives made here. Commissioner Selebi said the raids overseas yielded some very interesting evidence.

"In London, the British police found boxes and boxes of South African passports in a home of one of these people or an associate of one of these people," he said. "Which says to me, there must be a link that people are able to acquire these documents."

It is not clear whether any foreign intelligence or law enforcement operatives were involved in foiling the al-Qaida plot in South Africa. A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Pretoria said American law enforcement, in her words, had nothing to do with this particular matter.

It is also not clear why the South African government waited so long to announce the arrests. One theory is that South Africa recently won the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup and security was considered a key issue in awarding the tournament.

注释：
national police commissioner 南非全国警察总长
deport² [di5pC:t] vt. 驱逐
al-Qaida 基地组织
raid [reId] n. 袭击
parliamentary [7pB:lE5mentEri] adj. 议会的
security [si5kjuEriti] n. 安全
evil [5i:vl] adj. 邪恶的，恶意的
intention [in5tenFEn] n. 意图，目的
Jordan [5dVC:dn] n. 约旦（位于西南亚的国家）
Syria [5siriE] n. 叙利亚共和国（西南亚国家）
operative [5CpErEtiv] 员工
reveal [ri5vi:l] vt. 揭示
frustrat [frQs5treit] v. 阻挠，使感到灰心，阻止
analyst [5AnElist] n. 分析家，分解者
Institute for Security Studies 安全研究协会
Cape Town开普敦（南非的第二大城市）
evaluate [i5vAljueit] vt. 评价，估计
yield [ji:ld] v. 出现，产生
foil [fCil] vt. 阻止
al-Qaida plot 基地组织的阴谋
embassy [5embEsi] n. 大使
Pretoria [pri5tC:riE] 比勒陀利亚（南非阿扎尼亚首都 ）
host [hEust] vt. 举办
2010 Soccer World Cup 足球2010世界杯
tournament [5tuEnEmEnt] n. 比赛，锦标赛

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

3 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。