Former president Nelson Mandela urged the world on Wednesday not to listen to the United States when making decisions on the Iraq question, but rather follow the lead of the United Nations.
Mandela made the remarks when he met Miss South Africa Cindy Nel at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg.
”What I’m condemning is that two countries should go out of the United Nations and have their own separate programme, which actually undermines the UN,” Mandela said of the US and its closest ally Britain.
”(UN weapons inspection chief) Hans Blix and (head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog) Mohammed el-Baradei are men of integrity, and we want them to be respected. We are going to listen to them alone. We are not going to listen to the United States of America,” he told reporters.
Mandela has repeatedly lashed out at the US and Britain, accusing them of belligerence and a desire to get their hands on Iraq’s oil. The US has amassed troops in the Gulf region ahead an expected strike on Iraq, which has been accused of hiding weapons of mass destruction. – Sapa