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S. African moslem group vows to curb ISIS influence in SA

Xinhua, April 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Moslem Judicial Council (MJC) on Wednesday vowed to curb the influence of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in South Africa.

This came after a 15-year-old Cape Town girl was barred from taking a flight to Syria to join the ISIS on Sunday. The girl's relatives contacted authorities after she disappeared from her parent's home.

MJC President Maulana Ihsaan Hendricks said at a press conference in Cape Town that his group was shocked to learn that a young Moslem girl was allegedly lured by the ISIS.

Hendricks stressed the importance of an "immunisation" against the ISIS possible influence in the country.

"We pronounce today a process of immunisation. We believe it's important to immunise our community and our youth against these possible influences."

He called on the imams to realise that the ISIS is beginning to affect the fibre of the community.

Terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram have no connection with Islam, Hendricks said.

It has become a matter of urgency to engage with all sphere's of local leadership to cope with the infiltration of the ISIS' influence, he added.

Also on Wednesday, the Department of State Security warned that although South Africa is not a breeding ground for recruiting terrorists, there are signs that terror groups like the ISIS are finding support among locals.

ISIS's messages are filtering through to South Africans, the department said without giving details.

But the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) said on Wednesday its reporters tracked two people claiming to be online recruiters. One recruiter, an 18 year-old who claims to be of South African origin, says he has created a step-by-step guide on how to travel from South Africa to Syria without arousing suspicions of any kind.

The self-proclaimed ISIS fighter claims to have helped many other South Africans, saying a group is bound for Syria next month, according to the SABC report. Endi