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US Ships Not Allowed to Dock at S. African Harbors
South Africa would not allow the United States to dock any of its aircraft carriers or other warships in any South Africa harbor while the ships were engaged in a war against Afghanistan, the Star newspaper reported on Monday.
The newspaper quoted Sipho Pityana, director-general of the Foreign Affairs Department, as saying at the weekend that the South African government had taken the position that "we would not collaborate with the U.S. militarily in the fight against terrorism."
"And so we would not be in a position to offer the U.S. the kind of assistance .. to base its ships in South Africa to advance its campaign against Afghanistan," he said.
Pityana said South Africa would like the campaign against international terrorism to be conducted under the auspices of the United Nations and would raise this at the UN General Assembly debate starting on Saturday.
The South African government has repeatedly stated that it condemned the terror attacks on U.S. targets in September but hoped that any U.S. military retaliation should be short and well-targeted, and would not harm civilians.
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