South Africa has suspended dozens of immigration officials being investigated for giving South African citizenship to foreigners, mainly from Pakistan, the government said Thursday.
The move comes months after Britain started requiring visas from South Africans, charging terrorists and criminals were exploiting the availability of stolen or forged South African passports to gain access to other countries.
In February, Britain said it was requiring visas for South Africans, who previously did not need them. British security and intelligence officials warned of an increasing risk of Islamic extremists using South Africa as a transit point and venue to plan plots.
They said future attacks on Britain could be directed from countries other than Pakistan — where dozens of Britons with family ties have traveled for terrorist training or have been linked to recent terror plots.
Prosecutors in the London trial of several men accused of plotting to blow up at least seven trans-Atlantic commercial flights said last year that one suspect had flown into Britain from South Africa to lead the final stages of the plan. |