USA & UK Leaders of Chaos:Mandela

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US, Britain creating chaos: Mandela

 

 

LONDON: Former South African President Nelson Mandela, berating the

United States and Britain for their handling of conflicts in Iraq and

Kosovo, said they are creating international chaos by ignoring the

views of other nations.

 

Mandela, in an interview in Wednesday's edition of The Guardian, said

the United States and Britain were wrong not to seek explicit

permission for military action from the U.N. Security Council.

 

"The message they're sending is that any country which fears a veto

(from the U.N.) can take unilateral action," Mandela was quoted as

saying. "That means they're introducing chaos into international

affairs: that any country can take a decision which it wants."

 

"I am resentful about the type of thing that America and Britain are

doing. They want now to be the policemen of the world and I'm sorry

that Britain has joined the U.S. in this regard," Mandela said.

 

"It's a totally wrong attitude. They must persuade those countries

like China or Russia who threaten to veto their decisions at the

U.N.. They must sit down and talk to them. They can't just ignore

them and start their own actions."

 

France, Russia and China - and also U.N. Secretary-General Kofi

Annan - wereamong those most critical of NATO for not seeking

explicit approval from the U.N. Security Council before its 78-day

air campaign against Belgrade. But there was also a wide consensus

that the swift NATO action was necessary to avert a humanitarian

disaster.

 

The issue also came up when the United States and Britain were

accused of unilaterally going ahead with bombing Iraq in 1998 after

the failure of U.N. arms inspections.

 

Mandela, on a private visit to Britain and Ireland, said American

policy toward the United Nations is increasingly perceived as being

racially-motivated.

 

"The U.S. did not do this when the secretary-general of the U.N. was

white. They are doing it now, ignoring the U.N. under Kofi Annan," he

said. "And there are many people who are whispering that it is

because the secretary-general is black. That perception is

disturbing."

 

Turning to African issues, Mandela said the foreign armies involved

in Congo's civil war must honor a pledge and withdraw their troops,

or risk reducing the country "to ashes." He said the United Nations

will not consider sending peacekeepers to Congo until the violence

has completely halted.

 

He was also confident of a brighter future for war-stricken Burundi

where he is leading peace talks: "A breakthrough is in the offing,"

he said.

 

Mandela, 81, is frequently sought out as a mediator, but is now

turning down invitations. "Three other countries have asked me to

sort out their problems," he said. "But I'm not going to do so." (AP)