Rashid remarks 'out of context'

2006-06-14 08:20

Johannesburg - Foreign affairs has labelled "erroneous" reports that deputy minister Aziz Pahad suggested the government had been embarrassed internationally over the deportation of Khalid Mahmood Rashid to Pakistan.

His remarks, made at a briefing in Pretoria on Tuesday, were taken out of context, claimed foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.

What Pahad had said was that the Khalid case came at the same time as the release of the European Union's report on rendition and that the matter had been referred to the international court.

"From this perspective, deputy minister Pahad is of the view that there will obviously be negative media reporting on the matter," said Mamoepa.

"However, deputy minister Pahad... expressed his confidence that the government, through home affairs, had handled the matter correctly."

In earlier reports on Tuesday, Pahad was quoted as saying there had been a lot of publicity locally and internationally about the case and many people now believed South Africa was among countries which endorsed extraordinary rendition of people.

Rashid picked up in night raid

"We want to deny that," he said.

Although his department was not involved in the case, it would have to see how it could "minimise" the "negative messages".

"It's a matter that government is concerned with and we would try to resolve it as quickly as we can," said Pahad.

Rashid's lawyer Zehir Omar on Monday asked the International Criminal Court to investigate his client's disappearance from South Africa.

Rashid disappeared at the end of last year from Estcourt where he was picked up in a night raid on his home for being an illegal immigrant.

His arrest was contested in court but home affairs officials said Rashid was deported to Pakistan within days of his arrest.

There were, however, fears in the Muslim community that Rashid may have been taken to an international detention centre.

- SAPA