Security threat serious

South Africa may fall victim to a terrorist attack during the World Cup it is hosting in less than two weeks. The recent arrest in Iraq of Abdullah Azzam al-Qahtani, an alleged al Qaeda supporter who claimed he was planning attacks on the Dutch and Danish teams, has revived debate on whether the tournament faces a threat of this kind. Qahtani's scheme was later dismissed as posing no serious threat. South African officials have long said their non-aligned status and a lack of any substantial local support for militant groups should insulate them from attacks during the event. Both the government and football's governing body FIFA, which is cooperating with foreign security agencies and Interpol, have helped strengthen that view by stating no viable threat had been identified. However, analysts and security experts believe such actions cannot be ruled out because of the huge attention that even a small attack would get during the tournament. Ronald Sandee, director of the NEFA Foundation, which investigates possible terrorist activities, briefed the US Congress counter-terror caucus on possible threats to the tournament. He warned that Pakistani and Somali militants were running training camps in northern Mozambique and that trainees from these camps may have already crossed into South Africa to form or join cells planning attacks. "I believe there is an 80 percent chance of an attack," he told the paper, adding that strike teams were well established in South Africa. "Information confirms that several venues will be targeted, some simultaneously, others at random. Reference is also made to the possibility of a kamikaze-type attack." He said that numerous references were made to World Cup attacks in closed-frequency radio broadcasts and phone intercepts in Mauritania, Algeria, Mali, Pakistan and Yemen. However, the police have dismissed the allegations. Sandee said the match between the United States and England on June 12 could be a particular target, along with fixtures involving the Danish and Dutch teams should militants move to avenge perceived insults against Islam.