Mandela: No to white arms team
2002-09-03 19:07
Johannesburg - Former South African president Nelson Mandela said on Tuesday he had advised Iraq to accept the return of UN arms inspectors provided they were drawn from all continents and were objective.
"I have advised that Iraq accept the inspection without any obstruction, but the group of inspectors must be properly composed so it can be objective," he told reporters after talks with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz.
"We can't accept any form of imperialism or colonialism. It must represent all the major civilisations of the world, in other words an attempt must be made that every continent is represented."
Washington, which has threatened military action against Iraq, says President Saddam Hussein is developing weapons of mass destruction and must be ousted.
Weapons inspection teams have not been allowed to return to Iraq since they left in 1998. Last month Iraq has initiated talks about their return.
Mandela said he had been told by Aziz that those teams had been composed of Europeans.
Mandela said he would oppose the return of any team composed solely of "Europeans" or "whites". Aziz is in South Africa to represent his country at the Earth Summit.
- Reuters