Army could stop S Africa attacks


Police are said to have made about 200 arrests


South African security ministers have been discussing using the army to help stop a wave of attacks on foreigners which has left at least 22 dead.
The deployment of troops which has been demanded by human rights groups and opposition could not be ruled out said a senior ruling party official.
President Thabo Mbeki has condemned the "shameful and criminal" violence.
Mobs of South Africans have been roaming townships and central Johannesburg looking for foreigners.
Some 13000 people have sought refuge in police stations churches and community halls.
There are believed to be between three and five million foreigners living in South Africa - most are Zimbabweans fleeing poverty and violence at home.
SOUTH AFRICA

Foreign population: 3-5m
Majority from Zimbabwe also Mozambique Nigeria
Total population: 49m
Unemployment rate: 30%



The attacks have spread to new areas in the Ekurhuleni region around Johannesburg local official Zweli Dlamini told the BBC.
In the latest attacks two people believed to be miners from Mozambique were beaten to death reports South Africa's Independent Online website.
There have also been reports of attacks on South Africans from other parts of the country.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said that if the army was deployed it would be to back up the police.
Police reinforcements have already been sent to the affected areas and President Mbeki said they would get "to the root of the anarchy".
On Monday a coalition of human rights groups called the attacks a "national emergency" and urged the government to "consider whether deployment of the military is not necessary at this stage".
The police say they have made another 40 arrests overnight on top of the 200 in recent days.
Attacks 'orchestrated'
Mr Mantashe also said the ANC had held talks with the mainly Zulu opposition Inkatha Freedom Party and noted that most of the flashpoints had been in areas where the IFP had a presence.
The IFP has denied any links to the violence.
Some parts of Johannesburg resembled a war-zone


Bishop Paul Veryn who runs the Central Methodist Church where many foreigners have sought shelter and which was attacked over the weekend said the attacks were "clearly orchestrated".
He told the BBC's Network Africa programme that the mobs appeared to know exactly where foreigners lived.
"That information would not be accessible if they did not have access to councillors to people in authority."
He also blamed the poverty and massive inequality of wealth in South Africa for the violence.
Some South Africans say foreigners are taking jobs from locals and contributing to crime.
Up to three million Zimbabweans are thought to be in South Africa having fled violence and poverty at home.
Some Zimbabweans say they will go home despite the political violence there rather than face attacks in South Africa.
"If we go back into the streets they're going to kill us there" one Zimbabwean man seeking sanctuary in a police station told the BBC.
'Sisters and brothers'
But Mr Mbeki urged South Africans to welcome refugees.
"Citizens from other countries on the African continent and beyond are as human as we are and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu echoed Mr Mbeki's call for the violence to stop. "These are our sisters and brothers" he said. The attacks on foreigners began a week ago in the township of Alexandra north of Johannesburg before spreading to the city centre and across the Gauteng region.