Ayatollah Khamenei commends Pres Mugabe
By: Floyd Nkomo
Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010 8:08 pm
IRANIAN Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday commended President Robert Mugabe for resisting political interference by the Western powers, pledging Tehran’s continued support for Zimbabwe.
Speaking with President Mugabe in Tehran on Monday on the sidelines of summit of the Group of 15, an offshoot of the Non-Aligned Movement, Supreme Leader Khamenei also applauded "strong, deep-rooted and friendly ties between Iran and Zimbabwe".
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Zimbabwe last month to strnegthen ties with Zimbabwe. He made similar statements as the Ayatollah.
The Islamic republic is at loggerheads with Western countries who have pressured Tehran on its nuclear energy programme, suspecting Tehran intends to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities.
The summit was attended by the presidents of Algeria, Brazil, Senegal and Sri Lanka in addition to Zimbabwe.
Addressing the one-day gathering, President Mugabe launched a broadside at the United States and Britain, accusing them of “abusing the United Nations Security Council to bully and threaten smaller countries.” He reiterated his support for Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, which he had similarly endorsed during Ahmadinejad's visit.
Khamenei rallied developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia to strengthen ties to push development.
"The meddling trait of world powers is the scourge of humanity and the only counter measure against this is increased cooperation between independent states," Press TV of Iran quoted Khamenei as saying.
Labels: AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI, MUGABE, NEOCOLONIALISM, NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
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Zimbabwe, Senegal back Iran's nuclear right
By: iS-TZG
Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 5:14 am
ZIMBABWE and Senegal's foreign ministers have expressed their support for Iran's right for peaceful nuclear energy, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Speaking on the sidelines of Tehran's Group 15 (G15) Ministerial Meeting on Saturday, Senegalese Foreign Minister Madicke Niang said, "Senegal has always believed that all the countries should have access to peaceful nuclear energy and Iran as a member of the international community has this right as well, " the report said.
"Iran has declared that it needs nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and no one has the right to deprive Iran of its right," he was quoted as saying.
Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi also said that "All the countries have the right to gain access to peaceful nuclear energy within the international regulations."
"Those who criticized Iran for having access to peaceful nuclear energy, not only have nuclear energy, but also nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction," said Mumbengegwi.
The United States is leading a push to press for new sanctions against Iran on the ground the Middle East country is developing "a clandestine nuclear programme", but Tehran insists that its nuclear programme is fora peaceful purpose.
The 14th summit of the Group 15 (G15) developing nations in Tehran is slated for today (Monday).
Labels: G15, IRAN, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT, NUCLEAR ENERGY
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Globalisation marginalises developing countries, says Pande
Written by Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Friday, May 01, 2009 9:56:37 PM
GLOBALISATION perpetuates marginalisation of developing countries, Zambia's foreign affairs minister Kabinga Pande has decried.
Addressing the foreign ministers' meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba on Thursday, Pande said globalisation continued to present opportunities, challenges and risks to the future and viability of the NAM.
"The process of globalisation and trade liberalisation in its current form has produced uneven benefits among and within states," he said.
"There is nothing more undignified and humiliating than being in perpetual economic bondage and living in abject poverty. Zambia believes that continued economic marginalisation has grave implications on human rights."
Pande said the global economy had been characterised by slow and lopsided growth and instability.
He said Zambia believed that, in its form, globalisation perpetuated and even increased the marginalisation of developing countries.
Pande said globalisation must therefore be transformed into a positive force to benefit all countries.
"Greater efforts should be made to come up with a global strategy to prioritise the development dimension into global process in order to enable developing countries to benefit from opportunities offered by globalisation and trade liberalisation," he said.
"This will require the creation of an enabling economic environment for development as well as the coherence of the international trading, monetary and financial systems and they should adhere to the principles of openness, equality, rule-based, predictability and non-discrimination."
Pande said Zambia would use her second term mandate at the Human Rights Council to work towards addressing some of the injustices.
He asked NAM members to share ideas on how "best some of the issues could be addressed within the context of the Human Rights Council".
Pande also joined the chorus of condemnation of the US-imposed economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.
He said the blockade should be lifted immediately as it was a violation against international law and had caused untold misery to Cubans.
He further welcomed the government of national unity in Zimbabwe.
Pande said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was rallying behind Zimbabwe in the ongoing efforts to rebuild its economy.
He urged NAM member countries and the entire international community to support Zimbabwe in its endeavour.
Pande said the world faced a myriad of challenges ranging from peace and security, economic development and social progress.
He said the current global financial and economic crisis had severely impacted African countries especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).
"African ministers of finance and planning and governors of central banks have acknowledged that the crisis has developed into a full blown economic and development crisis with far reaching consequences for the economic fortunes of the continent," he said. "Inevitably this will have a negative effect on the fight against poverty and may reverse what has been achieved in the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals."
Pande said worse still the midterm review of the MDGs revealed that Africa was the only continent that was not on track to meet the targets set for 2015.
He asked for increased transparency, accountability and equitable representation in the international financial institutions (IFIs).
Pande said Zambia supported the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) June 1- 3 conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development.
He said the UNGA had a crucial role in restoring confidence in the global financial and economic system.
Pande reiterated demands for UN reforms so that the global parliament became more efficient and effective.
He called for Africa's full representation in the UN Security Council.
Pande said Africa's position was for two permanent seats on the Security Council with all privileges and conditions including the veto power and an additional five non-permanent seats.
"The historical injustice done to Africa has to be corrected and the time is now," he said.
Pande said Zambia supported the NAM's position that terrorism constituted the most fragrant violation of the international law including international humanitarian and human rights law.
However, Pande said terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group and that those attributions should not be used to justify terrorism or counterterrorism measures.
Labels: GLOBALISATION, GREAT DEPRESSION II, KABINGA PANDE, NEOLIBERALISM, NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT, POVERTY
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