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journalist who helped Pearl in his attempts to set up an what became known as PAGAD and set about to
interview with the Islamic radical Gilani also identi- destroy the area’s gangs and drug sellers. Led by
fied Sheikh and said that he was the man who (using Abdus Salaam Ebrahim, the group operates in small
the pseudonym Chaudry Bashir) met with the two cells. PAGAD first made headlines in 1996 when
journalists and promised to arrange the interview. the group beat and later murdered and set afire
According to press reports, Pakistani police detained Rashaad Staggie, leader of a notorious criminal gang
Gilani after Pearl’s disappearance but released him in South Africa.
because they found nothing to connect him with the As a consequence, people viewed PAGAD less
kidnapping. favorably and the government was unsure how to
During the murder trial, the defendants reportedly respond to such vigilantism. Speculation arose that
intimidated witnesses, lawyers, and officials. The PAGAD had either merged with—or been infiltrated
chief prosecutor said that he felt his life was in by—Qibla, a militant Shiite Muslim group that formed
danger; all of the defendants are said to have shouted in South Africa in 1980. Qibla (originally called the
insults at witnesses. Qibla Mass Movement) was heavily influenced by the
On July 15, 2002, Sheikh was convicted and sen- 1979 Iranian revolution and sought to transform South
tenced to death by a court in Hyderabad, Pakistan, for Africa into a Muslim theocracy, under the slogan “One
the kidnapping and murder of Pearl; the three accom- Solution, Islamic Revolution.”
plices received life sentences. PAGAD has recently shifted its focus: members
have attacked South African authorities, moderate
See also JAISH-E-MOHAMMED; RICHARD REID
Muslims, synagogues, gay nightclubs, tourist attrac-
tions, and Western-associated restaurants and are the
Further Reading
chief suspects in the 1998 bombing of the Cape Town
Jackson, Harold. “Obituary: Daniel Pearl: Fine Reporter Planet Hollywood restaurant. After a series of pipe
and Sensitive Observer of Islam.” The Guardian bomb attacks on the homes of academics, business-
(London), February 23, 2002. people, and police, South African authorities have
Mydanis, Seth. “Trial Witness Tells of Pearl’s Safety taken a strong stand against PAGAD. The govern-
Concerns.” New York Times, April 25, 2002.
ment links PAGAD—and Qibla—to hundreds of
bombings and violent crimes in the Western Cape
since the mid-1990s. Since 1997 alone, at least 60
PEOPLE AGAINST people have been killed and 125 injured at the hand
GANGSTERISM AND DRUGS of PAGAD.
Many believe that PAGAD has only about 50 mem-
bers, Qibla could have as many as five times that
Formed in 1996 as a grassroots attempt to combat number; both groups are believed to receive support
gang fighting and drugs in Cape Town, South Africa, from Islamic extremists in the Middle East.
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)
later adopted antigovernment and anti-Western
Further Reading
ideologies and used terror to spread its message. It
declared a jihad (commonly translated as “holy war”) Esack, Farid. “Taking on the State: PAGAD and Islamic
against Cape Town’s gangs and is believed to have Radicalism.” Indicator SA, Vol. 13, No 4, Spring 1996.
murdered about 100 people. Although PAGAD’s Said, Edward, W. Covering Islam: How the Media and
Experts Determine How We See the World. London:
initial objective was to serve as a broad-based anti-
Vintage-Random House, 1997.
crime group, it has adopted a paramilitary style and is
thought to have ties with Islamic extremists in the
Middle East. PAGAD now views the South African
government as a threat to Islamic values and to PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY
Muslims in South Africa.
For many years, criminal gangs and drug dealers
troubled the impoverished communities on the out- The People’s Liberation Army (EPL) is a Marxist
skirts of Cape Town. A mix of citizens, populist mod- guerrilla group that has been fighting the government
erate Muslim leaders, and Islamic extremists formed of Colombia since the mid-1960s.