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South Africa is probing whether the shooting in Johannesburg last week of Rwanda's former army chief was a political assassination attempt, a foreign ministry official said Thursday.

Four people were arrested after exiled general Faustin Nyamwasa was shot in the stomach and wounded on Saturday as he was entering his home in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.

His wife Rosette believes the attack was a political assassination attempt, but police have not commented on the motive. The Rwandan government has denied any involvement in the shooting.

"At the end of the investigation we will determine whether this was a criminal or a political act and who was responsible for it," said Ayanda Ntsaluba,

director general of the foreign ministry.

"If the attack was a political act against the general within

South African territory, we would regard it as very serious and we would have to treat it as such," he told a press conference.

"The violent action against the general is receiving the attention of the

South African Police Service and the Department of Justice," he said.

Nyamwasa, Rwanda's former ambassador to

India, came to South Africa in February and obtained political asylum, Ntsaluba said.

"We know the

Rwandan authorities are not happy with his presence here and we have interacted with them," he said.

"We are also aware of an

Interpol warrant issued against the general," he added, but declined to comment on the nature of the warrant. "I do not want to add to speculation on this matter."

The Rwandan government has accused him, and former army colonel Patrick Karegeya, of masterminding grenade attacks earlier this year in the run-up to

presidential elections in August.