New Zealand \ 20100111 \ The New Zealand Herald \ News \“ S Africa defiant in wake of attacks ”

It was meant to be a glorious start to African football's year in the sun - but the terrorist attack on Togo 's national team has punctured a continent's dream. Just as Sri Lanka's cricketers were relieved to escape after coming under fire on their team bus in Pakistan last year, Togo's footballers will have been left thinking: ``sport is not worth this''. One Togo player, Thomas Dossevi, said: ``We were shot at like dogs by men in balaclavas, armed to the teeth.'' And now the shooting dead of two officials and the driver of the bus carrying the Togo squad in an ambush in Angola has cast a permanent pall over the Africa Cup of Nations tournament - and raised security doubts about the World Cup in South Africa in June. With widespread fears terrorists could target India 's Commonwealth Games in October, it could be a very jittery year for world sport.

Danny Jordaan, head of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, said there should be no concern over safety at the tournament. Yet, while Jordaan was insistent that ``terrorists cannot be allowed to win'', he did admit ``even more stringent'' security measures would be taken ahead of the finals, the first in Africa . Jordaan said: ``It is sad for Angola . It invested more than a billion dollars in infrastructure and wanted the event to go off well. But these things happen.''

He emphasised the need to stand firm against terrorists. ``We have just seen the attempted terror attacks on the US . Unfortunately, it's a reality all over the world. Clearly it's a global issue and we cannot allow terrorists to win.'' Jordaan insisted events in Angola should not be a cause for concern over safety in South Africa . ``We have delivered the preliminary and final draw now, the Confederations Cup last year, and there are lessons that we learned. I just think we will take more stringent measures and make sure our 100 per cent safety record continues.''

Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo, of South Africa 's national police, was equally confident. ``We have made more than adequate provisions to ensure security will be as tight as it was in all other events that we delivered in this country.'' The Togo team bus was in Angola about 8km from the border with Congo when it was ambushed. Togo had been scheduled to play Ghana today in Cabinda . The separatist group, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda claimed responsibility. The attackers - beaten back by security officers who returned fire - fled into Congo .

Canada \ 20100111 \ Canadian Press \ News \ Chris Lehourites; “ Bus attack on Togo soccer team highlights security concerns before World Cup ”

The gun attack on Togo 's national soccer team in Angola has again highlighted the security issues facing South Africa as it prepares to host the World Cup in five months. The local organizers and former World Cup-winning coaches Franz Beckenbauer and Marcello Lippi remain confident that South Africa will put on a peaceful tournament.

"Of course, the shock at the terrible events sits deep," said Beckenbauer, three days after three people were killed and two Togo players were wounded in the attack on the team. "But it would be a mistake if we Europeans lumped together South Africa and Angola ."

The Togolese team was travelling by bus to Angola for the African Cup of Nations when it was attacked Friday in the host country's volatile Cabinda region. An assistant coach, a team spokesman and the Angolan bus driver were killed. Authorities have arrested two unidentified members of the separatist Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda.

The Togo team flew home Sunday night.

"Perhaps the African Cup came a bit too early for Angola ," Beckenbauer, who coached West Germany to the World Cup title in 1990 and won as a player in 1974, told the German daily Bild. "By contrast, South Africa is the continent's economic nation." Angola has only recently overcome decades of violence, and the country's government was hoping the biennial continental championship would give it a chance to show the world it was on the way to recovery - much like South Africa is trying to prove itself after decades of apartheid kept that country racially segregated.

Despite Friday's attack, the three-week, 16-team African Cup opened Sunday in Luanda with Mali rallying for a 4-4 tie against Angola after being down 4-0. South African President Jacob Zuma attended the match. "He (Zuma) emphasized that the shocking and unacceptable attack on the Togolese team should not be blown out of proportion, but should serve as impetus for the African continent and the world at large to work even harder to rid the world of terrorist activity and violence wherever it surfaces," presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said in a statement.

The first World Cup to be played on African soil will open June 11 with host South Africa facing Mexico at Soccer City in Johannesburg . The final is scheduled for July 11 at the same stadium. Security, along with transportation, is one of the biggest issues facing South Africa before the World Cup. An estimated 450,000 fans will visit the country for the 32-team, month-long tournament at 10 venues in nine cities across the country.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world with at least 50 people being killed a day, and the country plans to beef up police numbers and training by investing in high-tech equipment and crime-busting surveillance to combat crime as well as any threats from hooligans and terrorists. World Cup organizing committee chief executive Danny Jordaan said linking the attack in Angola to South Africa is applying a double standard. "When there are terrorist attacks in Europe, do we hear about the 2012 Olympics (in London ) being under threat? No," Jordaan said. " Angola and South Africa are two separate geographical areas, two separate countries.

"I don't think the world has ever asked one country to take responsibility for what happens in another country," Jordaan said. South Africa and Angola do not share a border. Namibia sits north of South Africa on the Atlantic coast, and Angola is north of that. The Cabinda region is even farther up the African coast, separated from the main part of Angola by Congo . "People in the world are thinking of Africa as one country," organizing committee chairman Irvin Khoza said Monday. "We've got our own security plans but it can only be a lesson also that in terms of our security plans, that is a lesson that we can learn."

Lippi, who led Italy to its fourth World Cup title four years ago in Germany , has experience working in South Africa because he coached his team at last year's Confederations Cup. " South Africa is one of the most developed countries on the African continent and I don't think we'll have anything to fear," Lippi said.

UK \ 20100111 \ Reuters \ News \ Marius Bosch; “ South Africa confident of World Cup security ”

Years of security planning for the World Cup in South Africa mean there is little chance of a surprise attack similar to the one on Togo 's soccer team at the African championship in Angola , police and analysts say. The roadside ambush in a restive region, which killed two of Togo's soccer delegation, inevitably brought questions over security at the world's biggest single-sport event, on a continent all too often tarnished by images of chaos.

But police, organisers and security experts said that, while any major sporting event could attract publicity-seeking action by extremists, South Africa and Angola were totally different. " South Africa has a very effective security apparatus, probably the most effective in southern Africa," said Sajjan Gohel, international security director of a London think tank, the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

"But all it requires is one particular terrorist event that could create huge disruption to the tournament itself ... It would be totally naive to assume South Africa would be either immune or exempt from it." Partly because such dangers are taken so seriously, security planning began in 2004. Police said the incident that marred the African Cup of Nations in Angola was no reason to review plans.

"We have got our plans in place, both pro-active and reactive plans," said Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo, the national police spokesman for the World Cup. South Africa has hosted other major sporting events successfully, including the Cricket World Cup in 2003 and the Rugby World Cup in 1995. At least 13 billion rand has been spent on new stadiums and infrastructure for the month-long World Cup, which begins on June 11. The security budget has not been made public but 52,000 officers will be on duty and police stations in high crime areas will be reinforced.

CRIME

South Africa does not suffer from political violence like Angola 's Cabinda enclave, where separatists who have been fighting a low-level war for three decades opened fire on the Togolese team bus. But crime is a major concern for World Cup organisers. South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of murder and rape, with about 50 people killed violently every day, slightly more than in the United States , which has six times the population.

Analysts said sufficient measures had been taken to ensure the safety of teams, and the tens of thousands of expected fans. "We have been following police preparations for the World Cup very closely and we are very impressed with the security measures," said Jakkie Cilliers, executive director of South Africa 's Institute for Security Studies. Some teams -- including the United States and England -- are also seen as potential targets for Islamic militant groups out to strike at the West.

South Africa has not been a target of extremist attacks so far. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, it has pursued a strongly independent diplomatic stance and has been outspoken in criticising Western actions in the Middle East and elsewhere. But last September, U.S. government facilities in South Africa were closed for several days due to a security threat, which local media said came from an al Qaeda splinter group. 

Other threats may come from local militant organisations like Pagad, an Islamic anti-drugs and -gangsterism group. Several Pagad members have been convicted of public violence following a spate of bombings in the early 2000s. But South African intelligence bodies are keeping a close watch on possible threats. "The intelligence community is throwing everything into the battle to prevent any purposeful attacks in South Africa during the World Cup," Cilliers said.