US embassy cable - 04ABUJA478

UNCLAS ABUJA 000478 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, NI 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST ARREST EXAGGERATED 
 
REF: ABUJA 0017 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR PUBLICATION ON THE 
INTERNET OR INTRANET. 
 
1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  Press reports claimed that an alleged 
agent of al-Qaeda, with links to Saudi Arabia, was arrested 
in Kano on 19 February.  Further investigation has revealed 
that a poison pen letter spurred both the detention and the 
press accounts, and the press-reported international 
terrorism link may not exist.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U)  Both local and international press reports claimed 
that a Sudanese national was arrested on 19 February for 
links to a Saudi-funded charity and al-Qaeda.  Sheikh 
Muhiddin Abdullahi, head of the Almuntada Al-Islami 
Foundation in Kano, was said to have funneled funds from 
Saudi Arabia, through the Almuntada organization to 
"international terrorists." 
 
3.  (U)  Further investigation of the reports indicate that 
Abdullahi was detained for questioning on the basis of a 
poison pen letter from a disgruntled employee, Alhaji Sharu, 
of the Almontada charity in Kano, claiming that Abdullahi had 
"provided security information" to Al-Sunna wal Jama,a, a 
splinter Islamic cult involved in violent confrontations with 
Nigerian authorities in Yobe state last December (reftel). 
According to one high-level GON source, the unhappy staffer 
sent a letter to the Nigerian police and the State Security 
Services (SSS) office in Kano.  This GON source says that 
Abdullahi was released on 21 February after questioning. 
"They found no evidence" of his ties to either the Nigerian 
Al-Sunna group or to international terrorism.  Post has 
verified from other sources that Abdullahi was indeed 
released shortly after being arrested and questioned. 
 
4.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  "Terrorist" remains a catchword in 
Nigeria as elsewhere, and workers often send poison pen 
letters to government officials to settle personal scores. 
The letter from Sharu to the SSS appears to fit this 
category.  With the debunking of this particular press story, 
concrete information about potential Nigerian ties to 
international terrorist organizations remains elusive. 
ROBERTS