Johannesburg – Gift of the Givers is hoping behind-the-scenes negotiations will help secure the release of South African photographer Shiraaz Mohamed.
This week Mohamed celebrated his 39th birthday in captivity as those seeking his release are trying to work out why he is still being held.
“There are a lot of things happening in the background which I can’t speak about at the moment, but everyone we speak to says that there is no reason he should be held,” said Imtiaz Sooliman, the founder of Gift of the Givers.
Sooliman said that he believed there was an “agenda” for the photographer being taken.
“If he had been taken by Isis there would have either been a demand for a ransom, or they would have executed him.”
Mohamed was kidnapped close to the Turkish border in January by a group of men. He had gone to Syria with Gift of the Givers. Before taking him away, the men apparently asked him questions that included if he was a Muslim, a foreigner and if he had a passport. He was also asked about a Turkish delegation that had passed through earlier and if he knew Syrian doctor Ahmad Ghandour.
Initially, the armed men said they would release him within 48 hours.
Later in January, Bakar al-Maharmel, the director of the Truth Collective South Africa said he saw a video clip on the cellphone of a mediator of Mohamed.
A prison swop was then to be organised through the South African and Syrian governments, the Red Cross and a rebel organisation, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.
But months later, no one appears sure who is holding Mohamed.
“We haven't made any progress, will still don't know who captured him, who is holding him, and no one has approached about a ransom,” said the spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, Nelson Kgwete.
But Sooliman believes that progress is being made.
A task team has been set up that includes Anis al-Hamati, the negotiator who helped secure the release of Yolande Korkie, in Yemen.
"Our task team has become so much bigger, and so has our co-operation with people within Syria” said Sooliman.
He said there had been raids to try and find the kidnappers.
“They are saying to us that this is an insult to us, especially as we are helping people in Syria. They have said they want to catch these people.”