Abduction gangs target foreigners

Salahedlin Haroun Khatir, a Kampala-based Sudanese businessman, was allegedly kidnapped on April 13.

As the Police investigate Khatir’s case, they are also looking for answers to the increasing disappearances of foreigners in Uganda, Steven Candia and Charles Etukuri write.

The Police have launched investigations into the disappearance of a Kampala-based Sudanese businessman who was allegedly kidnapped in the city by armed men over a bungled deal, before being smuggled into South Sudan ‘to face justice.’

The investigations are also set to uncover claims by Sudanese living in Uganda that South Sudan government operatives are roaming the country, unleashing terror to South Sudanese.

Salahedlin Haroun Khatir, 41, the managing director of Hongo Limited Uganda, an import firm, was allegedly kidnapped on April 13, at the parking yard of the former Hotel Equatorial.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

The matter was reported to Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) under reference number 70/13/04/2013 and is being treated as kidnap.

In the company of a few friends, Khatir had just emerged from the office of the chairman of the South Sudanese business community, where he had been summoned to resolve a long standing $347,000 (about sh765m) dispute between him and two South Sudanese businessmen, when he was abducted.

Also present at the meeting were both complainants - Peter Kout and another only identified as Zakaria, one of whom reportedly kept walking out of the meeting to make numerous calls.

On leaving the meeting at about 3:00pm, Khatir was accosted by five men, three of them armed with pistols, claiming to be security personnel from Interpol, with an arrest warrant for him.

He protested but was forced into a saloon car, registration number UAH 370A and sped away. Attempts by Khatir’s friends to pursue the abductors hit a dead end after another vehicle appeared from nowhere and blocked the road, enabling the abductors to get away.

INTERPOL DENIES INVOLVEMENT

“However, when we finally got to the Interpol head offices, the officers said they were not aware of the arrest and advised us to report a case of abduction at CPS,” a relative said. Boniface Walimbwa, the Kampala Metropolitan police CIID chief confirmed that the case was reported.

The Sudan Embassy has also been alerted about the incident. Walimbwa said the matter had also been brought to the attention of the deputy director CIID, Godfrey Musana, who was keenly following the investigations.

Khatir’s relatives, who have since petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), say they were shocked to learn the next day that the abductors had crossed with Khatir into South Sudan through the Nimule border post.

“It is our humble request that you handle our case with more urgency to help us know the whereabouts of our family member, whether he is dead or alive,” the petition dated April 16, reads in part.

Prior to the Saturday meeting, the complainants, who claimed to have an Interpol letter from South Sudan seeking Khatir’s extradition, had dragged Khatir to the Kampala Interpol offices where he was granted bond till April 17.

“The Interpol boss said there was no need to have Khatir extradited given that the contract had been entered in Uganda and if anything, he should be subjected to the Ugandan law,” a source said.

The director Interpol, Asan Kasingye, denied any involvement of his personnel in the abduction, saying when the matter was initially brought to their attention, they advised to resolve the matter amicably given that it was a civil matter.

“In any case if we have to arrest, we do it through CIID.What was done was done behind our back and masterminded by other people,” Kasingye said.

INVESTIGATIONS

The Police have since recorded statements from a number of people, among them Philip Marial, the chairman of the South Sudan business community East Africa.

“We have not only talked to him but also recorded a statement from him,” a police source said. Marial denies having a hand in khatir’s kidnap.

“I did not have a hand in it at all. My role was to try and arbitrate,” Marial said. Sources privy to the investigations, say upon abduction, the abductors sped off with Khatir to a residence in Nansana, a city suburb, before transferring into a Kenyan registered vehicle and smuggled Khatir out of the country.

Sources say the Police have since intercepted and impounded the first car, a special hire, arrested and interrogated the owner, who has since been released on bond. The vehicle is parked at CPS.

A DEAL GONE BAD?

Khatir’s plight stems from a deal he entered in 2011 with Kout and Zakaria to supply them with fuel. He is said to have paid a Somali businessman who delivered the goods in a truck to the Uganda-Sudan border at Nimule, but got held up for about four months, given that the owners were waiting for tax exemption from the government of South Sudan.

Following that, the Somali businessman decided to sell off the merchandise, offering to make good when Kout and Zakaria are ready. However, since then tracing the Somali businessman has become an issue, culminating in the kidnap.

INCREASED ABDUCTIONS

This incident comes against a back drop of concerns over the increasing numbers of abductions in the country.

Last month, Col. Eric Zachariah Ndosa, the alleged fugitive leader of the Congolese M18 rebel group was taken into army custody after he was reportedly abducted by unknown people from Kampala and handed over to Congolese intelligence officers.

There are also unconfirmed reports that a Ugandan truck driver who had been involved in a road accident in South Sudan but sneaked back home was illegally ‘deported’ to South Sudan ‘to face justice’ after unknown people traced him to his home in Kawempe and kidnapped him