/ 17 May 2010

Cops flex muscles ahead of World Cup

Cops Flex Muscles Ahead Of World Cup

Security forces paraded their World Cup arsenal through the streets of Johannesburg on Monday, hoping to reassure fans the country will be safe during football’s premier event.

The country’s high crime rate has been under intense scrutiny since the country was awarded the right to host Africa’s first World Cup. Police have recruited and trained 44 000 officers for the event that starts June 11, and bought vehicles, water cannon and other equipment, some of which was on display.

Johannesburg has two World Cup stadiums, and a third in Pretoria means that this region of South Africa will host more World Cup games than any other. Most of the 32 teams competing in the tournament have their training bases in this area and the majority of tourists are expected to stay in Johannesburg or nearby.

“South Africa will host the safest and most secure Fifa World Cup,” Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said. “The force is ready.

“That is the message we shared with South Africans over the past year and that we will be articulating to our 2010 visitors. Police will be everywhere, ready to respond to any eventuality.”

His national police chief, Bheki Cele, pledged to leave “no oxygen” for criminals, and added the World Cup would leave a security legacy.

“The resources have been put here, the training will be there to benefit the people of South Africa,” Cele said.

However, Talk Radio 702 said it had managed to smuggle weapons on to several domestic flights.

It said its reporters had managed for three months to get knives, razor blades, screwdrivers and syringes through security at Johannesburg and other tournament host airports.

The Airports Company South Africa said it was looking into the allegations and would tighten its procedures. It was confident fans would be safe.

Optimism
About 200 vehicles were on display on Monday, along with two helicopters and special police squads demonstrating parachuting from aircraft and rappelling down buildings.

Financial experts and constructions workers paused to watch in Sandton, where skyscrapers gleam and hovering cranes attest that more glass-and-steel buildings will soon rise.

Banker Lina Chauke belied her sober suit, dancing on high heels and waving a tiny South African flag as the parade passed. She said she believed World Cup visitors would be safe, and that South Africans would be safer because of investments in security made as a result of the country hosting the tournament.

Police officers “won’t have an excuse. All of them, they’ll be well-trained,” she said. “I’m very optimistic.”

Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble has praised South Africa’s preparations for the World Cup, which have included seeking training from other countries. Interpol, the agency formed to help police around the world work better together, is sending 200 experts, while each of the 31 visiting teams will be sending up to eight officers to work with South African police.

Arrest
Meanwhile, South African police were making inquiries regarding the veracity of a report that a Saudi army officer was arrested in Iraq on Monday for an alleged al-Qaeda plot targeting World Cup events.

“I know absolutely nothing about that, I am making inquiries,” said police spokesperson Colonel Vishnu Naidoo.

Musa Zondi, spokesperson for Cele was also not aware of the arrest.

German news agency dpa reported that Saudi Colonel Azzam al-Qahtani, also known as Sanan al-Saudi, entered Iraq in 2004 and was believed to have been involved in attacks on religious sites in Karbala and Najaf.

He was accused of cooperating with Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second in command, in planning attacks on the World Cup events in South Africa, which begins in June, the agency reported.

Constitutional right
Also on Monday, a Cabinet minister in Zimbabwe said political protests and other demonstrations would be banned there during the World Cup.

Giles Mutsekwa of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s party, who shares responsibility for the Police Ministry with a politician from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party, said the aim was to “rebrand” Zimbabwe and the region as safe for World Cup visitors.

Mugabe’s party has long been accused of trampling on democratic rights to stay in power.

Zweli Mnisi, spokesperson for Mthethwa, said there were no plans to ban demonstrations in the host country.

“To protest and to march is a constitutional right of every South African,” Mnisi said, though he did call for protests to be orderly.

Associated Press writer Angus Shaw in Harare, Zimbabwe contributed to this report. — Sapa-AP, Sapa, Reuters