US slaps military ban on SA

2003-07-02 08:29

Johannesburg - The United States announced on Tuesday it had suspended military aid to South Africa because the republic would not give Americans immunity from prosecution by the new international criminal court in The Hague.

The announcement by the American state department in Washington comes a week before President George Bush's state visit to South Africa.

The republic is one of 35 countries blacklisted by the US on Tuesday - and the only one of the five countries on the Bush's 'safari' to be blacklisted.

Botswana, Uganda, Senegal and Nigeria all kept military funding by signing immunity deals with the US.

The aid to the 35 countries suspended by the US amounts to about $47m (about R350m) out of an annual foreign military aid budget of $4bn (about R30bn), according to the French news agency AFP.

SA 'studying the implications'

The United States fears the court could become a forum for politically motivated prosecutions of Americans, and has been working hard to sign immunity deals.

Approached for comment, South African foreign ministry spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the government was still studying the announcement.

"We will comment later... we are studying the implications of that decision," he said.

Bush, accompanied by secretary of state Colin Powell, is due to arrive in South African on July 8 for a two-day visit.

He is due to be given an official welcome by President Thabo Mbeki on July 9 at the Union Buildings ahead of talks with his South African counterpart.

- SAPA