5 October 2001
Johannesburg — Resolution to bring terrorists to book is not an endorsement for a counter-attack, says deputy foreign affairs minister
DEPUTY Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday that any retaliation for the attacks on the US should require a mandate from the United Nations (UN).
In an address to a conference at the SA Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, Pahad said that "in tracking down and bringing terrorists to justice, we must reaffirm the rule of law. The law of the jungle must not be the basis of international relations." Pahad was addressing an institute conference on Southern African Development Community (SADC) relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The council is a regional economic integration arrangement that binds Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain.
More than 40% of SA's oil imports are from Saudi Arabia.
Pahad's statement means that SA does not view the UN resolution passed last week, which commits states to root out terrorism, as permission for a counterattack, although the US's right to defend itself is recognised.
Pahad said the resolution had far-reaching consequences for many countries. It is expected that many states would have to beef up security procedures and tighten immigration laws to comply with the resolution.
He said that for the proper implementation of the resolution, there was a need for a definition of terrorism and terrorist-related activities to be agreed upon. Pahad also said it was important that the fight against terrorism not be viewed as a "clash of civilisations" and transformed into a fight against Islam.
Pahad says SA has applied for observer status at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which has 56 members and seeks to promote Muslim interests. For SA, this status includes potential access to development finance.
Yesterday, Pahad appealed to oil-producing countries to offer cut-rate prices to low-income SADC countries. He gave no details and said it "should be left to the experts to be worked out."
Meanwhile, Bonile Ngqiyaza reports that Palestine Solidarity Committee member Salim Vally says a world in which choices are limited to either US President George Bush or terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden is a "damned and doomed world".
At a Ceasefire Campaign seminar in Johannesburg yesterday, Vally said that the world needed to move away from that polarity. "I think we need to look at how war is sometimes good for business. We need to look at how the attacks have strengthened the conservatives in the US."
He said the attacks had enabled conservatives to justify curbing civil liberties as well as measures to spy on citizens.
Vally said there was a need for a comprehensive approach in dealing with terrorism.
"What we must do is address the underlying causes."
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