The mystery of the South African doctor who was deported from Egypt while on a humanitarian aid mission to Gaza continued even after he was released by authorities.
While a scrum of reporters and photographers eagerly awaited the arrival of Dr Feroz Abubaker Ganchi at OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday, the state doctor managed to slip through undetected.
Ganchi, who is fast earning a reputation as an international man of mystery, managed to avoid passing through the A2 arrival gate - despite it being the exit point for passengers on the flight from Cairo.
When contacted an hour after his plane landed, Ganchi told The Star he had already left the airport.
"All I want to say at this point is that I reached South Africa safely and I am happy to be at home. I don't want to discuss anything else as I am going to release a statement," he said.
Ganchi was arrested by Egyptian authorities on Friday at the Gaza border. He was a member of the South African Gift of the Givers disaster relief mission.
It is not known why Ganchi was singled out by Egyptian authorities, but it is being widely speculated it was because of his supposed links to al-Qaeda.
In 2004, Ganchi and 20-year-old SA student Zubair Ismael were arrested in the Pakistani town of Gujrat on suspicion of being members of al-Qaeda.
They were detained along with Ahmed Khafan Ghailani, a Tanzanian accused of being a top al-Qaeda operative responsible for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Ganchi and Ismael were accused of undergoing military training, and were held in detention and tortured for five months before being released without any charges.
According to a counter-terrorism blog, Ganchi was arrested in Guinea a few months later, travelling under the pseudonym Dr Mohammed Nazzal.