Their names suggest that they are converts to Islam. So many converts to Islam get the idea that their new religion commands them to make war on those outside its fold — yet authorities remain resolutely uninterested in this phenomenon.
“Twins arrested in ‘terror plot’ on SA police radar since 2015,” by Susan Njanji, AFP, July 11, 2016:
Two brothers who appeared in court Monday accused of plotting to blow up the US embassy in Pretoria and Jewish institutions, have been on the police’s radar since 2015, a Hawks spokesman said.
The 23-year-old twins, Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, were arrested over the weekend in a first for the country involving allegations of Islamic State membership.
“It is alleged that they wanted to bomb the US embassy and Jewish facilities in the country,” said Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi.
“Although we have had people stopped from travelling abroad, this is the first time we have arrests linked to Islamic State,” he said, after the pair appeared briefly in a Johannesburg magistrate court.
The United States and Britain warned last month of possible imminent attacks by Islamic extremists in South Africa’s major cities.
The US warning said attacks could target sites frequented by US citizens, including high-end shopping malls in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The two men, who are accused of planning to join the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, were remanded in custody and will return to court on July 19 to allow for further investigation.
“They had been on our radar since 2015. They tried to leave the country twice, through OR Tambo airport and through Mozambique (to join IS),” Mulaudzi said.
According to court papers, the brothers “conspired to commit the crime of terrorism by planning to cause explosions at a mission of the United States of America and Jewish institutions.”…