Iraqi security forces have arrested a Saudi Al-Qaeda member who an official said was involved in a plot to attack next month's World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa.

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Al-Moussawi gave no details and offered no evidence for the claim and it was not possible to verify it.

The detention of the Saudi national comes at a time when already frosty relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq are under additional strains.

Al-Moussawi's allegation about a Saudi's involvement in a plot against the World Cup came after former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal accused Iraq's prime minister of hijacking the country's March election.

Al-Moussawi, who reports to the prime minister's office, said Abdullah Azzam Al-Qahtani was a former Saudi army lieutenant.

"He was planning to bomb the holy shrines in Najaf and Kerbala," Al-Moussawi told a news conference in Baghdad. "And he was planning a terrorist act in South Africa during the World Cup based on plans issued by the central Al Qaeda terrorist organisation in coordination with Osama bin Laden's first assistant, Ayman Al-Zawahri."    

Calls to Al-Moussawi seeking more details were not answered.
 US military officials in Iraq had no knowledge of the allegations, nor did US intelligence officials in Washington.

In South Africa, police spokesman Colonel Vishnu Naidoo said the first that police heard about the claims was in media reports out of Iraq.

"The police will investigate the allegations and we will check with the authorities that apprehended the suspect," Naidoo said.
   
South Africa is the first African country to host the World Cup, which takes place June 11-July 11. -Reuters