US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO1424

UNCLAS MAPUTO 001424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR AF/S - HTREGER 
NSC FOR CCOURVILLE 
PRETORIA FOR LEGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, KCOR, SNAR, PHUM, MZ 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN'S SON KIDNAPPED; 
HUGE RANSOM PAID FOR RELEASE 
 
REF: A. MAPUTO 1408 
 
     B. MAPUTO 155 
     C. 04 MAPUTO 1658 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please treat accordingly. 
 Not for internet distribution. 
 
2. (U) According to reports in the press, Gafur Hassan, son 
of prominent Indo-Mozambican businessman Gulamo Hassan, was 
kidnapped in the evening of October 27 in the city of Nacala, 
Nampula province, but then released a few hours later after 
his father paid a massive ransom, using a combination of 
local currency and US dollars, worth USD 200,000.   Several 
gunmen, allegedly of "asian" (south asian) background, 
abducted the 29-year old as he was leaving the Nacala-Porto 
mosque in downtown Nacala.  Upon learning of the kidnapping, 
Hassan contacted figures "at the highest level" in the 
Ministry of Interior and the police and asked that they not 
intervene, evidently fearing that their involvement would 
only complicate negotiations for his son's release.  Hassan 
collected the money that evening, some of which he had at 
home, according to press reports. 
 
3. (SBU) Hassan is reportedly one of the wealthiest men in 
the northern region of Mozambique.  He owns a number of 
shopping centers that sell products ranging from foodstuffs 
to appliances, most of which are imported from Dubai through 
the Nacala port.  (Note: Nacala has historically been 
considered home of some of Mozambique's shadier business 
interests, with its port serving as an entry point for 
illicit goods, including drugs and weapons.  End note.)   He 
is a distant relative of the prominent Gulamo family, 
third-generation Mozambicans of Pakistani descent, whose 
Grupo Gulamo owns a majority of shares in Air Corridor, the 
air carrier rival of the national airline, LAM (ref C).  For 
mention of Grupo Gulamo's links to illicit narcotics 
trafficking, see ref B. 
 
4. (SBU) Comment: High-level kidnapping is uncommon; this is 
only the third prominent kidnapping in the past 15 years. 
While the kidnapping appears to involve only the 
Indo-Mozambican community, coming on the heels of the October 
21 murder of the director of Maputo's central prison (ref A) 
the incident will feed growing public concern over an 
increase in violent crime.  Separately, Hassan's ability on 
short notice to cobble together from private sources such a 
large amount of cash, assuming the press reports are true, 
raises questions about the character of his finances.  We see 
no evidence, however, that the large payoff will draw any 
particular GRM scrutiny. 
La Lime