As noted earlier, South America, including Venezuela, is growing as a new front in the war on [Islamic] terror. A new Associated Press story provides a current overview.
Governments throughout Mexico and Central America are on alert as evidence grows that al-Qaida members are traveling in the region and looking for recruits to carry out attacks in Latin America - the potential last frontier for international terrorism.The territory could be a perfect staging ground for Osama bin Laden's militants, with homegrown rebel groups, drug and people smugglers, and corrupt governments. U.S. officials have long feared al-Qaida could launch an attack from south of the border, and they have been paying closer attention as the number of terror-related incidents has increased since last year.
Officials worry the Panama Canal could be a likely target. In 2003, boats making more than 13,000 trips through the waterway carried about 188 million tons of cargo.
In South America, U.S. officials have long suspected Paraguay's border with Brazil and Argentina as an area for Islamic terrorist fund-raising. Much of the focus has fallen on the Muslim community that sprouted during the 1970s, and authorities believe as much as $100 million a year flows out of the region, with large portions diverted to Islamic militants linked to Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Related: the strange case of Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed is set for trial in October here in Houston.
A South African woman whose arrest in McAllen last month raised fears about terrorists crossing the southern U.S. border pleaded not guilty in a Houston court Friday to charges of altering her passport, lying to investigators and illegal entry.Posted by Alan at August 22, 2004 09:45 AMU.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy set an Oct. 12 trial date for Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, 48, of Johannesburg, who was arrested July 19 at the McAllen-Miller International Airport.
Ahmed's baggage contained $7,300 in different currencies, muddy pants and a South African passport with three pages missing. She is accused of lying when she told investigators she had a U.S. visa, but that it was in New York.