Muslims Against Global Oppression (MAGO)

People Against Gangsterism And Drugs (PAGAD) -- Suspected Alias/Ally

Muslims Against Global Oppression (MAGO) is a radical Islamist terrorist organization based in South Africa.  Little is known about its organization or leadership, except that it was originally led by a man named Moain Achmad, who has been in a South African prison since the late 1990's.  MAGO is thought to be responsible for a single major attack, the August 1998 bombing of a Planet Hollywood in Cape Town's trendy Waterfront neighborhood, which killed two people and injured 27.  The nature of the explosive used remains unknown, but it may have been tossed into the restaurant window from the street.  <P> The group professes a deep antipathy to US and British policy towards the Muslim world; the individual who called police to claim MAGO responsibility for the bombing indicated that it was conducted in retaliation for the US missile strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Sudan and Afghanistan.  It should be noted, however, that a MAGO spokesman later denounced the attacks and denied that his organization played any role in them.  People claiming to be members of the group also threatened to carry out terrorist acts during British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to South Africa in 1999, but no attacks took place.  The group has been linked to another terrorist group influenced by radical Islam, People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), which conducts violent vigilante attacks against drug dealers and gang members.  It has also been suggested that MAGO and PAGAD both may be tied to a shadowy Egyptian organization, Gama'a al-Islamiya, although there is no concrete evidence of any links.

MAGO has not claimed responsibility for any major terrorist attacks since 1998, although they have been extremely active in organizing protests against US and British policy towards the Muslim world.  It remains unclear whether or not the group was actually responsible for the Planet Hollywood bombing, or whether they are contemplating any further violence.  However, the fact that the group supposedly bombed a crowded restaurant in response to cruise missile attacks against Afghanistan in 1998, but did nothing during the full-scale US invasion in 2001, suggests that it is not an active threat.