Govt ready to rescue S Africans

2003-01-02 21:23

Barnie Louw

Cape Town - South Africa has a contingency plan in place to protect and even evacuate thousands of its citizens in the Persian Gulf region in case of war in Iraq.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said there are an estimated 25 000 South Africans in the region whose interests would have to be protected in case of conflict.

He said at a news conference that the South African government was doing everything in its power to find a political solution to the threatening conflict, but a contingency plan was in place in case a political solution could not be found.

Pahad said a war in Iraq would cause an "unparalleled flood or terror" and would have a negative impact on South Africa.

South Africa would therefor intensify its efforts to convince Iraq to adhere to all the United Nations (UN) resolutions on weapons of mass destruction.

He called on Iraq to continue to give its full support to the UN weapons inspectors. The inspectors' preliminary report of Iraq will be handed over to the Security Council on January 27.

Pahad said South African could not idly sit by without trying to ward off "the biggest catastrophe in human history". He said a war in Iraq would impact on the price of oil, the world economy, South Africa's trade relations with the region and would make it virtually impossible to find a solution to the Israel-Palestine crisis.

Referring to the situation in Palestine, Pahad said the situation had deteriorated remarkably over the past two months. South Africa would therefore step up its efforts to find a solution to the conflict.

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