Gunship
16th Jun 2002, 20:31
From news24.com and the Sunday Crimes (uhmm Times)...
Libya arms deal 'premature'
Cape Town - The South Africa presidency on Sunday said it would be premature to talk about an arms deal with Libya, as Pretoria and Tripoli were merely involved in "exploratory talks".
Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said: "It is still very early to say. It is purely exploratory talks."
Any decision to sell arms would have to be approved by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) headed by Education Minister Kader Asmal, he said.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that South Africa was negotiating with the Libyan government to co-operate in the defence sector to manufacture and sell arms to Tripoli.
The supply of arms to Libya is restricted by a United Nations arms embargo, imposed because of Tripoli's alleged support for international terrorism.
The discussions, led by Denel's deputy chief executive Max Sisulu, who is also the chairperson of the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Association of South Africa, occurred on the sideline of President Thabo Mbeki's state visit to Libya this week.
Boom for defence industry
Quoting Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe, the newspaper said there were no details yet about the value and nature of the deal as discussions were at an early stages.
If agreed to, the co-operation would mean a boom for the defence industry and could translate into billions of rands over a number of years.
Libya wants to upgrade its old Mirage aircraft and wants to acquire a new fleet of fighter jets, as well as replace its military helicopters.
In his reaction, DA defence spokesperson Hendrik Schmidt said Pretoria should remember its own regulations and principles before even contemplating arms sales to Libya.
"Colonel Gaddafi's government has been linked to terrorism and the South African government would be guilty of a serious lack of judgment if we were to provide his nation with arms." Schmidt said the proposed deal would possibly contravene at least three of the NCACC's principles.
These included:
The respect showed for human rights and fundamental freedoms, based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights;
The record of compliance regarding international arms control agreements and treaties; and
Whether such arms sales support South Africa's national and foreign interests.
Schmidt said it was also crucial that the NCACC bill was adopted by parliament as soon as possible.
"Until this Bill is finalised all arms sales would take place in a vacuum of uncertainty."
Meanwhile, Khumalo said a headline in the Sunday Times newspaper saying that Mbeki's African plan was under fire and had been labelled a project of "former colonisers and racists" by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was "stretching matters too far".
"The president has an impression that the launch of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) - will go ahead as planned," he said.
This had been confirmed in a joint communique between South Africa and Libya, Khumalo said.
Libya arms deal 'premature'
Cape Town - The South Africa presidency on Sunday said it would be premature to talk about an arms deal with Libya, as Pretoria and Tripoli were merely involved in "exploratory talks".
Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said: "It is still very early to say. It is purely exploratory talks."
Any decision to sell arms would have to be approved by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) headed by Education Minister Kader Asmal, he said.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that South Africa was negotiating with the Libyan government to co-operate in the defence sector to manufacture and sell arms to Tripoli.
The supply of arms to Libya is restricted by a United Nations arms embargo, imposed because of Tripoli's alleged support for international terrorism.
The discussions, led by Denel's deputy chief executive Max Sisulu, who is also the chairperson of the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Association of South Africa, occurred on the sideline of President Thabo Mbeki's state visit to Libya this week.
Boom for defence industry
Quoting Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe, the newspaper said there were no details yet about the value and nature of the deal as discussions were at an early stages.
If agreed to, the co-operation would mean a boom for the defence industry and could translate into billions of rands over a number of years.
Libya wants to upgrade its old Mirage aircraft and wants to acquire a new fleet of fighter jets, as well as replace its military helicopters.
In his reaction, DA defence spokesperson Hendrik Schmidt said Pretoria should remember its own regulations and principles before even contemplating arms sales to Libya.
"Colonel Gaddafi's government has been linked to terrorism and the South African government would be guilty of a serious lack of judgment if we were to provide his nation with arms." Schmidt said the proposed deal would possibly contravene at least three of the NCACC's principles.
These included:
The respect showed for human rights and fundamental freedoms, based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights;
The record of compliance regarding international arms control agreements and treaties; and
Whether such arms sales support South Africa's national and foreign interests.
Schmidt said it was also crucial that the NCACC bill was adopted by parliament as soon as possible.
"Until this Bill is finalised all arms sales would take place in a vacuum of uncertainty."
Meanwhile, Khumalo said a headline in the Sunday Times newspaper saying that Mbeki's African plan was under fire and had been labelled a project of "former colonisers and racists" by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was "stretching matters too far".
"The president has an impression that the launch of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) - will go ahead as planned," he said.
This had been confirmed in a joint communique between South Africa and Libya, Khumalo said.