EDITORIAL: The Terrorist With Ghanaian Name

What's in a name? A lot.

There are certain names that can only be identified with particular parts of the world. A name like Kwaku Manfo Asiedu can come from nowhere else but the Akan speaking areas of Ghana.

It is true that some African-Americans have adopted African names especially those from Ghana's large Akan ethnic group, but that's only a validation of the source of the name.

And so when Ghanaians heard that one Kwaku Manfo Asiedu had been charged with complicity in the attempted bombing of London on July 21 2005, we concluded that he must be one of our own. Already, speculations are appearing in the Ghanaian media that he may be the son of one of Ghana's top police chiefs.

We have not received any confirmation on that yet but the certainty that he is a Ghanaian seems not to be in doubt - and that's where the mystery begins.

Mr. Asiedu's name is clearly non-Islamic - and we do not yet know whether he is a Muslim without an Arab name or not - but even that only goes to intensify the mystery. This is no joking matter.

Since his name was first mentioned on Monday, we have all gone into overdrive trying to make sense of it all.

Our government must use its influence with the British government to find out more to help us draw the right conclusions. We may have our problems - which country doesn't - but terrorism, no way!