President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday denied reports that the South African government had been warned of the prospect of xenophobic attacks by the National Intelligence Agency. ”There was no such intelligence reports — they certainly did not come to me,” he said.
Threats of retaliation against South Africans in other countries for the recent spate of xenophobic attacks have been overplayed, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Aziz Pahad, said on Monday. Speaking ahead of the state visit by Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua, he said the attacks on foreigners would be on the agenda.
Nigeria will press for compensation from the South African government for its citizens who were victims of xenophobic attacks in the country, Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe said late on Tuesday in Abuja. The minister said that although no Nigerian has been killed in the wave of the attacks, many of them lost their properties while others had had their shops looted.