SOUTH AFRICAN authorities yesterday sought to dispel fears over a potential terrorism threat to World Cup visitors, saying police would ensure the safety of all foreigners visiting the country during next month’s Fifa tournament.
Deputy police minister Fikile Mbalula told reporters the authorities were ready for “any eventuality”, but called on the public to work with law agencies to ensure everyone’s safety during the continent’s first World Cup.
“Police visibility will be of the highest order; every player, everybody who’ll be here will be protected,” he said.
The deputy police minister’s assurance has come a day after an al-Qaeda militant arrested in Iraq earlier this month admitted talking to friends about attacking the Danish and Dutch national teams participating in the football tournament.
In a media interview arranged by Iraqi security forces, Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani, a Saudi man arrested on May 3rd last in Baghdad, said he had talked about attacking the teams to avenge insults made against the prophet Muhammad by Western media.
In 2006, a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the prophet Mohammad, an act that sparked protests in Muslim countries.
In the Netherlands, the leader of an anti-Muslim party Geert Wilders has called the Koran a “fascist book” and wants it banned.
“We discussed the possibility of taking revenge for the insults of the prophet by attacking Denmark and Holland,” al-Qahtani told the AP news agency, “The goal was to attack the Danish and the Dutch teams and their fans.” He added: “If we were not able to reach the teams, then we’d target the fans” using guns and car bombs.
The South African authorities said they knew nothing about the potential threat until it was reported in the media on Tuesday.
Fifa said it would not comment on any specific potential threats to the World Cup.
The Dutch and Danish authorities said they are not yet planning any new security measures in response; and the South Africans say their security plans have always included measures to combat terrorist attacks.
On Monday the South African police paraded their World Cup security forces through the streets of Johannesburg, the country’s financial capital, in a bid to show the world they were ready.
An extra 44,000 police officers have been recruited specially for the tournament. The international police agency Interpol is also sending 200 experts to assist local authorities.