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