Islamabad, Pakistan ? Two South Africans captured along with a senior al-Qaida terrorist were plotting attacks on tourist sites in their home country, Pakistani officials said Wednesday, a surprising target for Islamic terrorism given the African nation’s vocal stand against the war in Iraq and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

South African officials cast doubt on reports of a terror plot, though this past spring a top South African police official indicated that authorities foiled plans to attack the country during its April 14 elections.

The two men are believed to have arrived in Pakistan on a flight from the United Arab Emirates just days before their July 25 arrest, which followed a 12-hour gunbattle in the eastern city of Gujrat. They greeted police with curses and promised an unending battle against President Bush and anyone who supports him, according to a senior police official.

The South African suspects were identified as Feroz Ibrahim, believed to be in his 30s, and Zubair Ismail, in his 20s, said Gujrat Police Chief Raja Munawar Hussain.

Hussain told The Associated Press that authorities found several maps of South African cities among the items seized after the raid, which also netted Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian with a $25 million bounty on his head for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

“They had some terror plans for South Africa,” Hussain said. He had no details on the plans or the timing of an attack, but an intelligence official based in the eastern city of Lahore told The Associated Press that authorities believe the men wanted to target tourist sites in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial center.

International fugitives have repeatedly exploited South Africa’s porous borders, and al-Qaida militants have obtained South African passports, but this is the first time evidence has emerged of South Africans being recruited into the terror network.