Iraqi war will devastate Africa, says Mbeki

www.iol.co.za February 03 2003 at 02:51PM By Matshelane Mamabolo

President Thabo Mbeki warned on Sunday that a United States-led military attack on Iraq would send oil prices through the roof and scupper attempts at African economic development.

Mbeki, speaking after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said the Iraqi government had told him it was eager to co-operate with United Nations weapons inspectors scouring the country for weapons of mass destruction.

A self-appointed champion of the developing world, Mbeki has campaigned against armed intervention, fearing that a war against Iraq could destabilise the Middle East and hamper development efforts in Africa.

"If you had a war, oil prices would shoot up to the extent that we would have to say goodbye to African development," he said, adding that many of Africa's crippling debt problems sprung from a surge in oil prices in the early 1970s.

'We must do everything to avoid a war'The threat of war in the Middle East - which supplies 40 percent of world crude exports - and a two-month oil strike in Venezuela have already pushed prices well beyond $30 (about R257).

The looming threat of war dominated talks between Blair and Mbeki.

"It was a very frank meeting. The president told the prime minister that war with Iraq could be avoided, and he was sending his deputy foreign affairs minister to Iraq to persuade the Iraqis to be more pro-active," Mbeki's spokesman said.

"He said we must do everything to avoid a war which would have devastating consequences for the African continent and push up the price of oil," he added.

Blair is the strongest supporter of US President George Bush's uncompromising stance on Iraq. Both men said on Friday that Iraq had only a few weeks to come clean about any weapons of mass destruction or face military action.

'It is possible to resolve this matter without going to war'"It is possible to resolve this matter without going to war," Mbeki insisted. "We have been talking to the Iraqi government. What they have been saying to us is that they are very keen and very willing to co-operate fully with the inspectors."

Mbeki also said any attack on Iraq must have a fresh mandate from the United Nations in the form of a new resolution. - Reuters

• This article was originally published on page 2 of The Daily News on 03 February 2003