Britain denies trying to embarrass SA

The British government has denied that it deliberately brings the Zimbabwe issue onto the United Nations Security Council agenda while South Africa is president of the council.

It has been suggested that Britain does this to embarrass SA, which does not believe Zimbabwe should be on the council's agenda.

Russ Dixon, a spokesperson for the British high commission in Pretoria, said on Wednesday that Britain had called for Zimbabwe to be discussed by the Security Council in March 2007 and again this week, because realities on the ground in Zimbabwe warranted a discussion.

It just happened that these were two months when SA was president of the council.



Dixon was responding to remarks to the press on Tuesday by George Nene, the deputy director-general for multilateral affairs in the department of foreign affairs.

He said: "As it happened last year, I'm sure you are aware that Britain has always tried to make sure that the issue of Zimbabwe comes to the Security Council in this form, as a briefing during our presidency.

"I don't know why they didn't wait for their presidency of the Security Council," Nene added, referring to the fact that Britain was to take over the presidency on Thursday.

"They waited during March; they didn't want to bring it up then." Asked if he thought Britain's intention was to embarrass SA, Nene said: "I don't think we've made a determination that there is a motive by the British. Whether it is coincidence or not, it is up to you to judge."

Dixon said: "It has never been our plan to raise Zimbabwe at the Security Council during South Africa's presidency. The UK has argued several times for it to be raised … the crisis is of ongoing concern, but raising it at the Security Council has been the response to realities on the ground."

In March 2007 Britain had raised Zimbabwe at the Security Council because of police raids on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change headquarters and the arrests and beating of opposition leaders, including Morgan Tsvangirai, Dixon said.

In April, Britain raised Zimbabwe again because of the authorities' failure to release the presidential election results, against a background of increased political violence.

In response to Nene's question why Britain had not waited for its own presidency in May to raise Zimbabwe, Dixon said: "The elections have already been withheld for four weeks and the violence is increasing now. If things don't improve, we expect Zimbabwe to be discussed again during our presidency."

The Security Council was divided on a proposal by Lyn Pascoe, UN under secretary-general for political affairs, to send a UN fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe.

• Source Url: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20080501062458535C445466
  
  Posted By: Jan
  AfricanCrisis Webmaster
  Author of: Government by Deception
  

         

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  Readers' Comments

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  Date Posted: Friday 02-May-2008
  Those damn evil terrorist rubbish that govern South Africa for the time being are the vilest scum imaginable. They never hesitated to put the pre-1994 South African government onto the UN Security council's agenda over and over and over again. I spit on them.
  
  Damn good on Britain and the USA … they stuffed-up and betrayed the whites in Rhodesia twenty eight years ago. They'd better fix it now if they can. That awful Jimmy Carter and Andrew Young are the lowest form of rubbish.
  
  Gairk
  

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  Date Posted: Thursday 01-May-2008
  England does not have to embarrass South Africa......
  South Africa is quite capable of & is doing a first class job of it all on it's own.!!!!!!!!!
  
  Graham Richards
  

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  Date Posted: Friday 02-May-2008
  I love it when South Africa Turns on the west. Nothing more satisfying to see the CIA's and MI-6's lapdogs turning into pitbulls and attacking the UK and USA..
  
  Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
  
  jo shmoe
  jhb
  RSA