'South Africa ideal base for terror groups'

AL-SHABAAB's affiliation to al-Qaeda is so strong that the militant group should be referred to as al-Qaeda North Africa.

That is according to Unisa professor Dirk Kotze, a member of the Southern African Centre for Collaboration on Peace and Security, an international think tank based in Lusaka, Zambia.

Kotze told Sunday World that though al-Shabaab had become a big threat in East Africa, it was unlikely that it would attack in South Africa.

"They concern themselves with local issues, such as the political situation in Somalia and Ethiopia's involvement in the war, which pushed them out of Mogadishu."

Kenya was targeted because it had sent troops to fight al-Shabaab in Somalia, and because there were many Somalis in the country .

"A lot of Somalis who fled the conflict went to Kenya. That makes it easier for a Somali terror group to settle there unnoticed.

"South Africa does not have troops in Somalia and won't be a focus for al-Shabaab. But South Africa could become a base for terror groups because our intelligence services are not focusing on terrorism."

Kotze said the US had long warned that terror groups could use South Africa as a base from which to plan and launch attacks.

Al-Shabaab did not use expensive, sophisticated weaponry and so did not need a sponsor, but Yemen and Iran might helping it, he added. "AK-47s are all over the place."

mzwandile@sundayworld.co.za