(Adds quote from analyst, context)
By Michael Georgy and Stella Mapenzauswa
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 27 (Reuters) - An arrest warrant has been issued for South Africa's controversial National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, public broadcaster SABC reported on Thursday.
The warrant was issued by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), it said. Selebi's spokeswoman said she was not aware of any warrant.
Selebi, who has been harshly criticised for failing to reduce one of the world's highest crime rates, is also the head of the international police organisation Interpol.
"We have no statement to make on this," NPA spokesman Tladi Tladi said. "The SABC says what it says, we have no comment."
SABC said the warrant was secured last Thursday by NPA head Vusi Pikoli before he was suspended by President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki suspended Pikoli because of a "breakdown" in his relationship with the justice minister, the government said.
Selebi's spokeswoman, Sally de Beer, said she felt the SABC report was unlikely because the warrant was reported to have been issued a week ago and the authorities had not acted on it. "I don't expect him to be arrested," she said.
A government spokesman said on Tuesday that Selebi might be investigated over allegations of ties to crime syndicates.
Mbeki and his cabinet have previously backed the police chief despite calls for his resignation and sacking. There were 19,000 murders in the year to March 31, 2007, and an average of 144 women reported being raped every day in South Africa.
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Political analyst Sipho Seepe, a Mbeki critic, speculated that if Pikoli had issued a warrant, that would raise questions over the government's explanation for his suspension.
"It would mean that there has been a blatant interference, that the reasons that have been given about his being removed are not sustainable and it is political interference," he said.
If confirmed, the warrant could have politically explosive consequences in the race to head the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The post is regarded as a stepping stone to the country's presidency.
The race is likely to pit Mbeki against Jacob Zuma, who remains popular after surviving graft allegations.
Selebi, an anti-apartheid hero of the ruling African National Congress, has been in the hot seat since the arrest last year of businessman Glenn Agliotti in connection with the 2005 murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
Selebi has acknowledged a friendship with Agliotti, who was charged with murder, but denies having any financial links or any knowledge of Agliotti's alleged underworld connections.
The opposition has seized on the affair as another example of corruption around ANC top brass.
Susan Booysen, a political analyst at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said it was inconceivable that Mbeki would not have approved the reported arrest warrant.
"I can't imagine that anybody would go that route without Mbeki's consent," said Booysen.
"The timing is most profound. It really is a dirty war out there and there are few things happening politically that are not linked to the succession," she said.
Selebi has been Interpol president since 2004 and his mandate expires in 2008. No one at Interpol was available for comment.
