UPDATE: Dutch jihadist suspect ‘involved’ in kidnapping of British couple

A suspected Dutch jihadist is believed to have been involved in the deadly kidnapping of British couple Rodney and Rachel Saunders, and of contacting a top Islamic State group official, Dutch media reported Monday.

The 29-year-old man, only identified as “Mohammed G.”, briefly appeared in the Rotterdam District Court where he was accused of “belonging to a terrorist organisation,” Dutch news reports said.

Earlier this year the bodies of the renowned British botanists were discovered after they went missing during a trip to look for rare seeds in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains near Vryheid.

Also read: Body found by tourists near Tugela River Mouth

The two are believed to have been kidnapped by suspected jihadists, who raised an IS flag in a reserve in the region where the Saunders disappeared.

Mohammed G., from Limburg province in the south of the Netherlands, is “suspected of involvement in the fatal kidnapping in SA,” Dutch national news agency ANP said.

Dutch prosecutors alleged Mohammed G. “tried to buy bitcoins” using Rachel Saunders’ credit card details, ANP said.

“He also had contact with the highest ranking IS spokesman in Africa,” the Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported, naming the official as Abu Fida, also known as Mohammed Abdi Ali.

Abu Fida was arrested in Kenya in 2016 and according to information from the FBI, received direct instructions from the IS leadership in Syria, the NOS said.

Prosecutors said Mohammed G. knew two of the Saunders’ kidnappers in SA and also worked with a Somali-based suspect.

Police arrested four suspects alleged to be part of the group behind the Saunders’ kidnapping after an intensive manhunt in February.

A multi-country investigation was still ongoing and Mohammed G. was remanded in custody, the ANP said.

Read the full story by AFP HERE.

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