Johannesburg — Former South African president and Nobel peace prize laureate, Nelson Mandela, has strongly criticised the American leader, George W Bush, calling him arrogant and shortsighted. Mandela also hinted that the US president was behaving like a racist in his determination to go to war with Iraq.
Addressing an international womens forum in Johannesburg on Thursday, Mandela uttered his most outspoken remarks about Bush to date, asking, "Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly?"
South Africas revered elder statesman added: "What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust."
Mandelas strong anti-Bush language coincided with a letter sent to Washington and drafted by eight European countries backing Bushs stance on matters concerning the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Iraq is currently being inspected for weapons of mass destruction by a team from the United Nations, which issued a generally unfavourable interim report this week. The weapons inspectors announced Monday that they required more time to determine whether Iraq indeed possesses such weapons.
Commenting on Mandela's outburst, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The president (Bush) expresses his gratitude to the many leaders of Europe who obviously feel differently... He understands there are going to be people who are more comfortable doing nothing about a growing menace that could turn into a holocaust," said Fleischer.
However Mandela rebuked Iraq for not cooperating fully with the weapons inspectors. He announced that South Africa would support any measures taken against Iraq by the UN.
Mandela implied in his remarks about Bush, which were also critical of British prime minister Tony Blair, that American policy on Iraq was motivated more by financial than human rights concerns. "All that [the U.S.] wants is Iraqi oil," Mandela said.
Blair, he added, was simply "the foreign minister of the United States. He is no longer prime minister of Britain."
President Bush insists the U.S. would be justified in taking on President Saddam militarily, even if the UN does not authorise an attack.
France and Germany are among a number of countries publicly opposed to Bushs policy on Iraq. The American leader has indicated that he would like to set a deadline for the Iraqis to demonstrate they have disarmed.
"Who are they to pretend that they are the policemen of the world, the ones that should decide for the people of Iraq what should be done with their government and their leadership?" asked Mandela, accusing Bush of "trying to bring about carnage".
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Mandela took issue with both Bush and Blair who he said were disregarding the authority of the UN and undermining its African secretary-general, Kofi Annan, who comes from Ghana. Mandela became personal in his accusations and launched a verbal attack on the two men, asking: "Is it because the secretary-general of the United Nations is now a black man? They never did that when secretary-generals were white."
Africas best known statesman said the UN was the chief reason why a third world war had been avoided and urged that any decisions on Iraq should be dealt with by the UN. Mandela has been consistently critical of Bushs handling of the Iraqi question over recent months, a view widely mirrored in other parts of Africa among leaders, politicians and ordinary people.
Mandelas comments also echo the official view from South Africa. His successor, President Thabo Mbeki, said this week: "We do not believe there is anything that has been said which says there is a need to go to war [with Iraq]". Mbeki is scheduled to meet Blair this weekend, just after the British prime minister has finished a summit with Bush at Camp David on Friday.
Analysts in South Africa predict that another conflict in the Gulf would mean a hike in domestic oil prices and other economic consequences. Similar concern is being expressed in the columns of newspapers in several African countries.
