The United States warned its citizens on
Saturday of possible attacks by Islamist militants on U.S. facilities or
shopping malls in South Africa during the upcoming month of Ramadan, but the
South African government said the country was safe.
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| A view of the city of Johannesburg, November 8, 2009. Johannesburg is one of nine South African cities hosting the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. |
It was the second such warning in under a year from the embassy,
which issued a similar alert in September in a country that has a significant
expatriate and tourist population but has seldom been associated with Islamist
militancy.
The U.S. embassy said up-market
shopping areas and malls in the commercial hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town,
widely regarded as South Africa's tourism capital, were the main target areas
in the suspected planned attacks.
"This information
comes against the backdrop of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's public
call for its adherents to carry out terrorist attacks globally during the
upcoming month of Ramadan," it said in a statement posted on its website. 1.usa.gov/1UkdY8R
Last month, a new
message purporting to come from the spokesman of Islamic State called on
followers to launch attacks on the West during the Islamic holy month of
Ramadan, which begins in early June.
South Africa's foreign
affairs department said the country's security agencies were capable of
ensuring the safety of its residents, noting that no incident or attack had
taken place after the previous warning by the U.S. embassy last year.
Reuters
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