With the recent crime statistics released in South Africa being worringly poor, only adding to the fear the rest of the world already has about a Soccer World Cup in a third world country. There was even a blog on the internet recently that claimed, with completely made up facts, that only 1% of tourists visiting South Africa ever return home, blatantly false rumours like these only serve to hurt a nation that is trying to distance itself from it's fractured past. In response the South African government has moved to easy the worries of FIFA and the rest of the world.
Source: Goal.com
South Africa's government this week attempted to alleviate fears of possible foreign terrorist attacks as it hosts the 2010 World Cup.
The statement comes after the national intelligence service commented on Monday that it was working with foreign spy services to block any terrorist threat to the event.
The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was responding to a report in South Africa's Sunday Independent, which claimed a group linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network was planning to attack United States interests in South Africa.
But the state ministry responsible for internal defence called such fears unfounded, saying that various agencies were working closely together to provide security. The ministry added that they would neither confirm nor deny alarmist media reports.
In a surprise move, the US government shut down all its facilities in South Africa for two days last month, quoting a security threat. The closure affected the highly secured embassy in Pretoria and consulates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. South Africa's police at the time said they were on top of the situation, and nothing happened.
NIA spokeswoman Lorna Daniels told Johannesburg's 702 radio station on Monday that both the intelligence and security services were "working closely to ward off any threats" to the World Cup. "And we're doing this with our counterparts worldwide," she said.
The Independent quoted two unnamed sources as saying intelligence officials had intercepted a call made to an Al-Qaeda-linked group in East Africa allegedly confirming a bombing plot targeting US interests in South Africa.
The report did not say where the call was made, indicating the state had threatened the paper with legal action if it published sensitive security information.
Until now, southern Africa has been spared in Al-Qaeda's decade-long campaign of attacks against Western interests worldwide, but the World Cup provides a target for such terrorists, and the security personnel involved in 2010 safety will be keeping that in mind ahead of the tournament.
Peter Pedroncelli, Goal.com
