Tshwete said the attack was part of "an inspired terror campaign designed to create instability. There is politics around it. This was not an isolated incident."

Police have privately blamed Muslims as being behind a spate of bombings that have rocked Cape Town in recent years, most of which were linked to drug turf wars and confined to distant suburbs, away from obvious tourist targets.

The Muslim-led People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) - listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department - has vehemently denied involvement.

Bomb attacks on a gay bar and a pizza restaurant last month injured more than 50 people in Cape Town, one of the world's foremost destinations for millennium revelers.

One of two policewomen seriously hurt in Friday night's blast had her left leg amputated in an operation to save her life, and is to have a further operation to remove shrapnel from her chest, a spokeswoman at City Park hospital said.

Two policemen were discharged from hospital on Saturday. The others are in a stable condition, according to police.

Tshwete, who met senior police officers at the scene of the blast Saturday, with Justice Minister Penuell Maduna and Chief State Prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka, said it was "quite obvious the target in this instance was the police officers."

"We are outraged. I am so angry. We are not going to sit on the beaches this holiday. We are going to hunt these people," he told reporters.

Contrary to earlier reports indicating the device was thrown at the police, Tshwete said the bomb had been placed inside a dustbin in front of a restaurant in the city's Green Point area. "The police received a phone call to state the fact that there was a bomb. They stopped in front of the restaurant and it detonated at very close quarters to them."

The restaurant was empty at the time of the attack, around 10:30 p.m. The group of police officers and their two vehicles took the full force of the blast.

Tshwete said a four-wheel drive vehicle sped away from the scene as the bomb exploded. "Of course, that's a very serious suspect. Police are following up some leads."

He said police numbers had been increased in Cape Town this week in advance of the millennium celebrations in the scenic city, already packed with revelers. "We are not prepared to disclose deployment levels because we don't want these bastards to know where the police are," Tshwete added.

Ngcuka said that the device was a pipe bomb, but he said it was too early "to link the bombing with the St Elmo's and the Blah Bar ones," last month's targets.

The elite Scorpions unit was set up earlier this year to combat South Africa's high level of serious crime and is modeled on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela and his successor Thabo Mbeki will be among some 500 guests at a special millennium celebration at Mandela's former Robben Island, off Cape Town.

The city's millennium celebrations will be among those highlighted in global television coverage of the event on Dec. 31.

Cape Town Tourism manager Sherl Ozinsky said the latest bombing would not affect numbers traveling to the city. "I don't believe that we will see many people turning away because of this. But the damage is to the city of Cape Town's image. People are keeping a very close watch on us to see if we can become a good safe society."



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