‘Basit Javed Sheikh was once a student in Seychelles but left at age 16’ |14 November 2013

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Transport  has confirmed that Basit Javed Sheikh, a Pakistani national reported to have been arrested in the United States of America by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on November 2, 2013, according to news sources, did for a period reside legally in the Seychelles.  

At that time his father was employed as a bank manager, with Basit attending school in Seychelles and leaving  at the age of 16, on November 28, 2000.  
Further to the news report, it is understood that Basit Javed Sheikh, now 29, is a permanent US resident at the time of his arrest in the United States of America.

Commenting on the news reported locally in the press, the minister responsible for immigration, Joël Morgan, said: “What we have is someone who as a child resided in Seychelles with his family and went to school, like many foreigners working here locally. He later moved to another country at the age of 16, thirteen years ago, this is it and nothing more.”

“With regard to terrorism, Seychelles as a foreign state does not nor has ever supported any acts of terrorism or organisations linked to terror.  In fact the Seychelles has been at the forefront in the fight against such acts such as piracy, and those who have financed such activities.  

“We therefore condemn this sensational article and the innuendoes made in it.  It is the government’s view that it is irresponsible  journalism, where they attempt to link or suggest that somehow the Seychelles is a place where terrorism has links.  It is not and we have our record to stand on,” said Minister Morgan.

“How can anyone suggest that a child who went to school in Seychelles, then later on leaving the country, never returning, commits an offence as an adult, and Seychelles is somehow implicated? This article tries to tarnish the image of the Seychelles and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” added the minister.