S.African 'jihad suspect' dies in Mozambique hospital

Pulse News Agency International by AFP

January 23, 2019 4:33 PM

A South African businessman held in Mozambique on suspicion of being a jihadist leader has died in hospital under mysterious circumstances, his wife and a medical source told AFP on Wednesday.

The South African was arrested in Palma, a town on the northern shores of Mozambique where he has been living for 30 years

Andre Mayer Hanekom, 61, was admitted to a hospital in the northern town of Palma on Saturday after having convulsions and bleeding under the skin, his wife Francis said.

She said she had been informed of his death early on Wednesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a medical source confirmed Hanekom had died late on Tuesday, saying he had "been in a coma since the weekend".

But he did not specify the cause of death, and there was no immediate word from South Africa's foreign ministry.

Hanekom, who ran a maritime business in Palma, was arrested in August alongside two locals and two Tanzanians, with prosecutors accusing them of being part of a jihadist group.

All five were faced with a string of charges, including murder, crimes against the state and inciting civil disobedience.

His wife saw him on Sunday but said he was unable to speak. She said prison staff told her he had suffered a fall.

On the same day, the South African foreign ministry confirmed it had received word from Mozambique's high commissioner that Hanekom was "well".

Visiting him again on Tuesday, Francis Hanekom said he had shown signs of improvement.

"He was actually better, he was awake. He was able to move in his bed -- and this morning he is dead," she told AFP, saying she suspected foul play.

Hanekom was named by prosecutors as one of the leaders of a jihadist group operating in Mozambique's gas-rich north, alongside two Tanzanian nationals and two locals.

They accused him of managing the group's logistics among other charges rubbished by his wife as "nonsense".

Jihadist fighters have terrorised remote communities in the gas-rich and Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado region for more than a year, staging brazen gun and knife attacks on civilians leaving over 100 killed and thousands fleeing their homes.

According to the charge sheet, all of the suspects, except Hanekom, had confessed to their involvement in the armed group "to create instability and prevent the exploitation of natural gas in Palma".

During a search of his home in November, investigators had found machetes, arrows and gunpowder, court documents said.

Pulse News Agency International by AFP