An al Qaeda-linked group and Turkey have offered assistance in the search for South African photojournalist Shiraaz Mohamed, who has allegedly been kidnapped by armed men in Syria, Huffington Post reported. The incident happened near the Turkish border, but there is still no news of him.
According to South African-based aid organisation Gift of the Givers’ CEO Imtiaz Sooliman, Mohamed was about to leave Syria, but as he was heading for Turkey on January 10, two cars blocked the vehicle he had been travelling in at the Al Hilal Hospital in Aljamiliye Road.
Two armed men took the two aid workers as well as Mohamed away for questioning, blindfolded. They wanted to know if Mohamed was a foreigner with a valid passport.
The armed men questioned the three about a Turkish delegation that entered Syria earlier that day as well as about a Dr Ahmad who works at the hospital.
The two workers were released and a confiscated cellphone was returned after the questioning. Sooliman says no one has claimed responsibility for Mohamed’s abduction.
Sooliman texted on Sunday that Dr Ahmad Ghandour was summoned to the investigation department of An Nusra (now Fath Al Sham), which he described as a former Al Qaeda affiliate, to answer questions about Mohamed.
He met two uniformed men with their faces covered and they blindfolded Ghandour too and took him away for questioning, News24 reported.
Mohamed had been staying at Ghandour’s house, he had taken him around for photographs, and was going to fulfil Mohamed’s request to be taken to Aleppo.
Sooliman said the Aleppo trip was stopped by Gift of the Givers due to “safety concerns”.
“This was [predominantly] South African support and it was an insult to us that a South African was captured. This South African had come to record the hardship of the Syrian people to garner more international support,” relayed Sooliman. He said they were “extremely annoyed with this incident”.
According to Jacaranda FM, Mohamed’s former wife Shirley Brijlal said the last time she heard from him was when he was on the way to the Turkish border.
“My last communication with him was at on Tuesday at 3.17pm whilst on his way to the Turkish border. Earlier, at 12.48pm he indicated that he should be at the border by 3pm and that if I did not hear from him by 6.30pm I was to contact Ahmed Bham. An hour later he said that I should wait until 8pm to call Bham,” Jacaranda FM quoted her as saying.
His family told Eyewitness News in South Africa that he was aware of the danger of travelling to a war-torn country.
The organisation’s representatives met with Turkish government officials on Monday, who also promised to help locate Mohamed.
“The Turkish government has got troops inside Syria and they have a lot of influence inside Syria, they have a lot of intelligence. So they could use those resources to help us, if they can help to find out where Shiraaz is,” Sooliman said.
