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(NEWZIMBABWE) ANC Youth League lashes Zuma over Libya UN resolution vote

ANC Youth League lashes Zuma over Libya UN resolution vote
by Staff Reporter
21/03/2011 00:00:00

THE youth wing of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has criticised the government’s decision to support a United Nations Security Council resolution which triggered an air bombardment of Libya. The ANC Youth League said the decision to back the resolution had opened up South Africa as “an imperialist weakest link to the African continent”.

“The Youth League is concerned by the role played by South Africa in the United Nations Security Council. South Africa voted in favour of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 to impose a No-Fly-Zone in Libya, and did not advocate for a peaceful solution or an African led solution to the political challenges confronting Libya,” it said in a statement on Monday.

“South Africa voted in favour of the no-fly-zone in Libya, whilst its allies in BRICS, (Brazil, China, India, and Russian Federation) abstained, because they noticed the inconsistencies being applied to Libya.”

The Youth League said the resolution was not only “inconsistent, but also rushed because there was no exhaustion of a peaceful process to resolve the political situation in Libya.”

The United States, France, the United Kingdom and Canada last Saturday and Sunday bombed several targets in Libya, strongly weakening the North African country’s air defences. Libyan officials claimed up to 100 civilians had been killed in the air strikes.

The bombardment has been criticised by China and Russia who both abstained from the UN vote instead of using their veto power. The Arab League, which backed the resolution, has criticised the bombardment saying it went contrary to the UN resolution authorising the enforcement of a “no fly zone”.

The ANC Youth League added in a statement: “In Bahrain and Yemen, governments of those countries unleashed violence against civilians and tried to crack down on the legitimate concerns and protests of the people, yet there is no resolution to impose certain things to those countries.

“Saudi Arabia has violated UN Conventions by illegally interfering on the domestic issues of Bahrain through sending of troops to crack down legitimate protests and the UN never said anything about it.

“The ANC Youth League is of the view that whilst presented as a means of protecting Libyan civilians, the UN resolution and imposition of a no fly zone in Libya is meant to impose the West’s takeover of Libya, because of its oil endowments.”

The Youth League, which is led by the radical Julius Malema, claimed the real intentions of the Western countries was to “impose a puppet government in Libya so that they can have access to its oil reserves and capacity, like the US did through the illegal war it waged against Iraq in 2003.”

The attack is a slap in the face for South African President Jacob Zuma who has his hands full trying to resolve conflicts on the continent including in Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast and Sudan.

South Africa may also find itself isolated in Africa over its decision to support the foreign intervention in Libya. Vice President Kgalema Motlanthe travels to Washington this week and is expected to seek assurances that the United States will not seek the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, a man he described only in 2008 as “a great leader who has done a lot for his people ... a leader who has no difficulties in giving a helping hand to fellow Africans”, adding: “For that, we respect him greatly.”

“The ANC Youth League expects the ANC government and its representatives in the United Nations to understand these principles and at all time avoid being used by the United States to undermine the sovereignty of other countries for its narrow purposes,” the statement added.

“The South African government is expected to always propagate for African solutions to African problems and not allow for the outsourcing of the resolution of domestic politics to Western powers

“We have to raise these concerns because as youth, we will never agree with a South Africa which will be positioned as an imperialist weakest link to the African continent. The ANC Youth League does not and will never agree with any resolution of the Libyan situation through violence by the US led forces, in as much as we do not agree with the usage of violence by the Libyan government.”

Labels: ANC YOUTH LEAGUE, JULIUS MALEMA, LIBYA

posted by MrK @ 7:01 PM