US Can Win War but Not Peace in Iraq: S. African Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 09, 2003

US Can Win War but Not Peace in Iraq: S. African Official

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South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday it was likely that the United States-led coalition would win the war in the Iraq but he questioned whether it would win peace in that country.

"The entire region is unstable, I do not think the United States will be able to sustain peace in Iraq. The Iraqi issue can not be divorced from the Middle East situation," he said.

Pahad made the comment on a public meeting in Johannesburg on the war in Iraq on Tuesday night, the South African Press Association reported.

Pahad said it was clear that the United States and Britain had undermined the power of multi-nationalism by attacking Iraq without the sanction of the United Nations.

"The war must not set a precedent which further undermines multilaterism and, especially the authority of the UN and the Security Council -- institutions that were established to deal with problems peacefully and through dialogue," Pahad said.

He said South Africa reaffirmed the African Union (AU) and Non-Aligned Movement's position that war was not a solution to disputes between states.

South Africa should not to be disillusioned by the UN's failureto avert the war.

"We will mobilize other African countries to have our interestsheard by the UN...Africa has shown the world that it can deal withproblems through dialogue and it intends to fight all its problemsby engaging the concerned parties," he said.

He claimed many people were being brainwashed by reports of journalists who sided with the United States.

"We are subjected to propaganda where journalists are praising the US soldiers," he said.

Pahad also said he was very proud of how the children in South Africa reacted when they were asked to write about the Iraqi war.

"Most of them wrote prayers, poems and composed songs with a clear message that they were aware that the Iraqis are suffering in their own country."

Pahad said the children reacted spontaneously and they wanted to know why innocent people were being killed.

"These children are beginning to feel what most adults feel when watching television or reading on the Iraqi war."

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