By ,
Published December 23, 2015
Members of the House counter-terrorism caucus met Wednesday to assess specific security threats made on next month's soccer World Cup in South Africa, and concluded that games with U.S. and Dutch teams were at the greatest risk of attack.
In an interview with Fox News, Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, one of four caucus co-chairs, said the briefing by counter-terrorism officials focused on a few high-profile games at the month-long tournament, the world's biggest sporting event which starts on June 11. The World Cup is expected to attract more than 370,000 foreign fans.
Granger said threats made against the event appear to be from internal South African organizations as well as outside groups, "some of which we knew, some we didn't." Granger, who attended the briefing along with Reps. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., Dennis Moore, D-Kansas, and Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., also said that teams were more at risk than spectators.
"Anytime you're talking about terrorism where you have the world watching, it makes, of course, a bigger statement," Granger said. "This is a situation where we're concerned about the security in South Africa and the awareness of South Africa about the threats."
The caucus' review came one week after Iraqi security forces detained a senior Al Qaeda militant suspected of planning an attack targeting the World Cup.
Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani, an officer in the Saudi army, is suspected of planning a "terrorist act" at the tournament, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad security services, told Fox News.
Al-Qahtani entered Iraq in 2004, according to al-Moussawi, and is suspected in several attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the country.
Al-Moussawi said the 30-year-old Saudi national, who was in charge of "security" for the terror network in Baghdad, was in contact with Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri to "organize the plan."
In Johannesburg, meanwhile, South African police were reportedly investigating the alleged terror plot at the tournament.
Fox News' John Brandt contributed to this report
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/u-s-dutch-teams-at-greatest-risk-of-attack-during-world-cup-house-caucus-learns