Al-Qaeda suspects released in Sudan
Five suspected members of al-Qaeda arrested last month in the southern African country of Malawi were on Friday released in Sudan.
They were cleared of links with Osama bin Laden’s network after being interrogated by US agents. They will be returned to their countries of origin.
“All five have been cleared” after questioning that “began in Malawi and was completed in Khartoum,” Al-Anbaa. A Sudanese government newspaper, reported.
The US state department and the Central Intelligence Agency refused to comment on the men’s release.
Al-Anbaa made no mention of where the men were held, or when US authorities delivered the suspects from their custody.
Riots
The five — two Turks, a Saudi, a Kenyan and a Sudanese – were arrested last month in Malawi. Their arrest sparked riots in the land-locked country of 10.6 million people, home to a substantial minority of deeply conservative muslims.
They accused the government of covertly handing the suspects over to US agents, in breach of a High Court ruling ordering Malawian police to charge or release the men.
Intelligence sources say the five men – who were running charitable organisations – were on a CIA watch list, susected of diverting donations to al-Qaeda operations in Africa and beyond.