South African criminal elements and isolated rebel and political groups do not pose a threat to security during this year's FIFA Soccer World Cup, but the Islamic fundamentalist group al-Qaeda does, South African Institute of Race Relations said on Friday.

"The threat we have to be concerned with revolves around the possibility that an al-Qaeda-aligned movement may use the tournament as a platform upon which to launch a massive strike against a western target in South Africa," said Frans Cronje, the institute's deputy director.

Writing on the South African Institute of Race Relations website, Cronje said that South Africa's porous borders posed a particular problem as did the fact that it was easy to obtain fraudulent documents to live and work in SA under an assumed name.

"This would provide little challenge to an al-Qaeda cell to infiltrate any weaponry or personnel into the country ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

"Indeed, if a terror attack were on the cards, al-Qaeda's track record in planning suggests that this may already have occurred," he said.

International concern for the safety of visitors during the World Cup -- which starts in June -- came in the wake of the attack last week on the Togolese soccer team during the African Nations Cup in Angola.

Also ringing alarm bells about international terrorism was the attempt last month to blow up an American plane by a Nigerian student linked to an al-Qaeda cell in Yemen.

While South Africa's department of state security would not comment, in 2004, former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils said al-Qaeda operatives could be hiding in South Africa "as they believed that the country was a safe haven".

However, Kasrils was also quoted as saying South Africa was not viewed as an enemy of al-Qaeda.

Annelie Botha, a specialist on terrorism issues at the Institute of Security Studies in South Africa, said South Africa was not unique as any major event attracting tourists and with intense media attention, such as the 2010 World Cup, raised the threat of a terrorist attack, no matter where in the world it was staged.

"We can only have a completely safe World Cup if the public is vigilant and reports anything or anyone that is suspicious," she said.

"I would say, though, that South Africa could well be a safe haven. I do not believe that there is an organised al-Qaeda presence in South Africa.

"However, due to the fact that South Africa is a liberal country, with real democratic liberties, it is hard to put people under surveillance without a court order," said Botha.

In recent years, South Africa was the subject of U.S. scrutiny over the possibility of increased al-Qaeda activity within the country.

In 2007, a South African dentist, Junaid Dockrat, and his cleric brother Farhad were suspected of being financers, recruiters and facilitators of al-Qaeda and the deposed Taliban in Afghanistan. The pair denied the claim.

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