Here is an article on al Qa'ida terrorist Farouk Abdul Mutallabs's connections and links in Ghana.

Who says Ghana is not part of the axis of terror.



Faruk Abdulmutallib: The Ghana connection
WRITTEN BY THEOPHILUS ABBAH & NURUDDEEN M. ABDALLAH
SUNDAY, 10 JANUARY 2010 05:31

Faruk Mutallab

Embattled 23-year-old Faruk Mutallab’s sojourn in Accra, Ghana, for two weeks did not raise any security scare, but it created a stir in an Accra Muslim community.

Between Nigeria and Ghana, which country is feeling the tension in the aftermath of the alleged attempt by 23-year-old Faruk Abdulmutallab to bomb an American air plane on Christmas Day? Considering the decision of the United States government to put Nigeria on the watch list of security risk-country, an almost reflexive response of a typical Nigerian would be that iti is Nigeria that is under pressure. But this is not so.

“The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) operatives are everywhere,” a source told Sunday Trust from Accra, Ghana, last night. “They are combing everywhere to interrogate anyone who must have had contact with Abdulmutallab during his alleged two-week stay in Accra.” The FBI and the Ghanaian police are faced with the task of unraveling the mystery of Faruk’s visit to Ghana, captured in the following questions: Why did he visit Ghana, and even spent two weeks there? What did he do in those two weeks? What was the link between the visit and the foiled bombing exercise? From where did he acquire the explosive?


How Faruk began his game:

Faruk arrived Accra, the Ghanaian capital aboard Ethiopian Airline Flight 911 from Dubai on December 9, 2009, but his mission in the West African country was not clear until Christmas eve on December 24 when his alleged attempt to detonate an explosive was foiled by another passenger on the North West Airline Flight 253 from Amsterdam, Holland to Detroit, United States. The lives of about 280 passengers were saved.

According to the Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in an interview with journalists in Accra, when Faruk arrived the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), he indicated on his immigration form that he would stay in a particular hotel but did not stay at the address given on entry, rather he chose a different hotel. Sunday Trust gathered that Faruk may have booked to stay in the luxurious Holiday Inn hotel in the vicinity of Accra airport. The hotel is about one kilometer from the airport and seven kilometers from the city centre. The 7-storey hotel, which offers 168 appointed rooms, is fitted with free high speed internet access. Because of the facilities in the Holiday Inn, it is the favourite of rich and affluent visitors to Ghana, and it is believed that Faruk may have decided to move away from that hotel in order to keep a low profile, perhaps, to perfect the plot he attempted to execute on the American airliner.


The hotel where he stayed for seven days:

A source told Sunday Trust that Faruk may have stayed in Relax Court Hotel in Dzorwulu, Accra, Ghana, for seven days, that is from December 9 to 16, 2009. This hotel, located in Accra is moderate, but most of those who lodge there do so at their own risk. An indication this is manifest by the fact that in February, 2009, a robbery incident occurred in the hotel. In the incident, a guest, identified as Mr Kweku Duah, was allegedly robbed of $53,000, 800 Euros and GH¢2,000 at his hotel room. The hotel is said to be about 10 minutes drive from KIA and about 20 minutes drive from Accra International Airport and has air-conditioned guest rooms, wireless internet connected rooms, television sets with local DSTV channel.

The Ghanaian authorities claimed that they had not been able to unravel what the young man did throughout the seven days he was believed to have stayed in Relax Court Hotel, but the minister added that, “he did nothing to create suspicion of any sort,” in the hotel room and in that environment. But a source in Accra described the hotel as “a nice hide-out, where those who do not want to display their affluence go to. But you can always find all sorts of people there, no matter their status.”


An incident in a Ghanaian mosque:

Though the FBI and the Ghanaian police are still attempting to patch the details of the activities Faruk engaged in together, Sunday Trust gathered exclusively that the young man did not stay in his hotel room


Cont’d from page 8

throughout the seven days he allegedly stayed in the Relax Court Hotel, Accra. He was always moving from Dzorwulu to a suburb of Accra called Nima.
Nima is one of the poorest places in Accra and it is well-known for a high concentration of migrants from Northern Ghana, though there are many rich persons living in the neighbourhood. “Some of the places he entered in Nima, if you are not an indigene, you cannot go there, unless you have a kind of relationship with some persons there. It is not a place where just any visitor would enter and operate the way the young man did,” this reporter was told last night.
Sunday Trust gathered that during Faruk’s stay in Dzorwulu and his several visits to Nima, he created a scene which some worshippers at a mosque called Research Nima Mosque still recollect. The distance between Dzorwulu, where Faruk lodged, and Nima, where the mosque is located, is about two kilometers. At the mosque, Faruk was halted when he attempted to make a call for prayer one evening. The mosque is located at an Islamic research institute.
A Ghanaian journalist explained the incident to Sunday Trust last night: “Throughout his stay for seven days, he used to go to Research Nima mosque in Nima for all his regular prayers, and he may have thought that the worshippers there had considered his as one of them. Then, one of those days, he wanted to call for prayer, but he was stopped. The man who stopped him claimed that Faruk was a stranger at the mosque, and as such he would not be allowed to call for prayers. They didn’t know where he was coming from; he was not known in the neighbourhood. He was only going there to say his prayers like any other Muslim. They, therefore, prevented him from calling for that evening’s prayer.” It is not clear if that incident marked the end of his regular prayer meeting at the Research Nima Mosque. Out of Ghana’s 20 million population, it is estimated that, at least, 45 per cent is Muslim.

What do Ghanaians think of Research Nima Mosque?
Sunday Trust investigations revealed that in Ghana, Faruk Mutallab may have left the Relax Court Hotel to stay in the Islamic Research Institute, Nima. Sources told Sunday Trust that the centre, Islamic Research Institute, belongs to the Ghanaian Islamic group called the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’a, a sect popularly known as Salafiyya, which also derives its doctrinal guidance and financial support from Saudi Arabia.
The institute, our source said, comprises of a mosque, a school and accommodation facilities, where the alleged Christmas Day would- be bomber, Faruk stayed in. The institute is located in Nima, a suburb predominantly populated by Muslims. The place, apart from the religious activities being carried out there, also served as a confluence that attract people, particularly the Muslim faithful because of the various economic and business activities taking place.
Findings by this newspaper revealed that despite the presence of the Saudi-backed Salafiyya group, no any terror-related incident was reported prior to their hosting of the alleged attempted bomber of the Detroit-bound United State Airliner. The shocking news of the alleged terrorist act by Mutallab has been generating condemnation from various sections of the Muslim community in Ghana.
One of the leading Ghanaian Islamic organisation that came out to condemn the alleged terror attempt was the Islamic Foundation for Peace and Development headed by Sheikh Yahya Al-Amin, who doubles as special adviser to the Chief Imam of Ghana. The organisation, which carved a niche for itself in strengthening inter-sect and inter-faith relations had described the development as unfortunate, ant-Islam and capable of dragging the name of the peaceful religion into the mud.

Al-Qaeda’s presence in Accra
Ghanaians have been worried as a result of indications that Al-Qaeda may have a very strong presence in the presumably peaceful West African country. On December 18, 2009, some persons linked to Al-Qaeda were arrested in Ghana, accused of contacting undercover informants who were posing as members of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The individuals were taken to New York to face charges of trying to set up a drug trafficking ring in Africa to help finance terror operations. Commenting on the development, the US Attorney Preet Bharara, said the “allegations reflect the emergence of a worrisome alliance between Al-Qaeda and transnational narcotics traffickers.” The three persons involved were Ourmar Issa, Harouna Toure and Idriss Abelrahman, and were charged with one count of narco-terrorism conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.” The three men were suspected to support Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, designated as a supporter terrorist organizations by the United States.
The fear in Ghana that Al-Qaeda may have infiltrated the country is captured by a Ghanaian writer Ato Kwamena Dadzie, who wrote a piece in an online website, with the topic “Terror draws near.”
In the piece, the writer said, “The fact that the idiot with the bomb around his balls spent two weeks in Accra should be a matter of concern for every Ghanaian. Will it be too far-fetched to suggest that he might have come here for further instructions after graduating from the Terror University in Yemen? It could be that Al-Qaeda has some presence in Ghana and that’s why he chose to come here…”
Complaining that Ghanaian authorities did not have proper records of immigrants into the country, Dadzie wrote further, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Al-Qaeda planted a couple of kingpins here to make sure that the Abdulmutallab had the bombs properly strapped to his balls. Instead of playing ostrich and engaging in fruitless game of buck-passing with Nigerians, our government should be hard at work investigating whether Al-Qaeda has set up an office here in Ghana. They well might have because I don’t think Abdulmutallab came here just to buy a plane ticket…”

What are FBI and CIA looking for in Ghana?
Since December 26, operatives of the American Federal Bureau of Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have been in Accra, Ghana, attempting to put together pieces of information that would unravel the mystery surrounding the very location where Faruk obtained his bomb and how he was able to move it into the American airliner. Reports said earlier that, “US officials strongly suspect Abdulmutallab met Al-Qaeda operatives in Ghana, who may well have given him the specially-designed underwear with highly explosive powder.”
“The intelligence agencies are raiding locations and questioning everyone that had contacts with Faruk in the two weeks he spent in Ghana,” a source told Sunday Trust last night. It was not clear if any arrests have been made, as the Ghanaian police and the American agencies have kept sealed lips on what they have so far achieved.
Sunday Trust gathered last night that all the security agencies were investigating the leaders of the Islamic centre in Nima where Faruk spent his last days before leaving the country to embark on his suicide mission.
This was also confirmed by the Ghanaian President Professor John Atta Mills in an interactive session with journalists last Thursday. The Ghanaian leader said his country’s security agencies were collaborating with the US security agencies who arrived the country recently in launching a special investigation on Faruk’s activities in Ghana, with particular emphasis on those people he had contact with while in the country.
The Ghanaian president declined further comment on the matter, cautioning journalists not to divulge information that is capable of jeopardising the investigation. Our source said that the foreign security agents had since swooped into action rounding up the leading figures of the Salafiyya group for questioning.

uhmmmn

This begs the question, why didn't the US authorities add Ghana to the list of countries of interest in terrorism.