S.AFRICA RELEASES THREE HELD IN BOMB PROBE

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) - South African police Friday released three
members of a radical Muslim group it had arrested in a probe into a
fatal blast at a U.S.-franchised restaurant.

Police arrested one man and two women belonging to a local Muslim
vigilante group Thursday evening at Cape Town airport as they were
about to board a flight to Egypt, but Friday they released all three
without charge.

One man died and at least 27 people were injured Tuesday in the blast
that ripped through Cape Town's Planet Hollywood.

The radical Muslim vigilante group known as People Against Gangsterism
and Drugs (PAGAD) had earlier warned of ``war,'' saying police were
unfairly picking on its members in their investigation.

``The police are on a witchhunt,'' PAGAD spokesman Cassiem Parker
said. ``They are barking up the wrong tree. They will never find the
suspects if they keep looking at PAGAD.''

Confirming the release of the three, police spokesman John Sterrenberg
told local radio police were still investigating various angles and
appealed to the public to come forward with information related to the
blast.

PAGAD's Parker said police were demonizing his organization and said
the three arrested wanted compensation for unjust detention and said
they planned to sue media organizations who published pictures of
their members taken as they were arrested.

He said PAGAD members would take part in a march Saturday organized by
another local Muslim group to the U.S. mission in Cape Town, to
protest against U.S. strikes last week on alleged Muslim targets in
Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the bombing of U.S. embassies
in Africa.

``We are disgusted at the bomb attack in Cape Town,'' Parker said.
``By the same token, we reject the bomb attacks by the United States
on the people of Sudan and Afghanistan.''

Two callers to a radio station claiming to belong to the group
organizing Saturday's march, the Muslims Against Global Oppression,
said they were behind Tuesday's attack, but the group's official
spokesman later denied it was involved.

About 100 PAGAD activists, many concealing their faces with scarves,
marched to the home of Justice Minister Dullah Omar early Friday to
demand the release of its members, warning of ``war'' for the arrests.

PAGAD spokeswoman Abeida Roberts said the three members had been on
their way to a pilgrimage to holy sites in Egypt and were innocent of
any crime.

Cape Town, South Africa's foremost tourist destination, has been the
scene of a widening war between gangs who run the city's drug business
and the radical PAGAD vigilantes.

PAGAD activists, who achieved notoriety in 1996 when they publicly
lynched gang boss Rashaad Staggie, have set off several bombs made
from lengths of plumbing pipe packed with explosives in their war
against the city's gangs.

Cape Town mayor Theresa Solomon has also called a rally later Saturday
to show solidarity against terror and crime.

President Nelson Mandela visited Planet Hollywood on Thursday and said
if the bomb had been intended to hit against the United States it was
misplaced to attack an institution full of innocent non-political people.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry