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dam-l Nujoma on European menace/LS



>From The Namibian, Sept. 21, 1998:


                           SADC AND THE DRC CRISIS



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       President rips into 'foolish Europeans'

       TABBY MOYO

       PRESIDENT Sam Nujoma yesterday launched another attack on European
       nations branding them "selfish, foolish, imperialists and liars" and
accused
       them of instigating division on the African continent.

       Nujoma's scathing attack came barely 48 hours after the European Union
       (EU) announced that it plans to review its aid to African countries
involved
       in fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to ensure
that aid
       money is not indirectly used to fund the fighting.

       Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are all likely to
       be affected by any EU review of funding.

       In an hour-long impromptu speech at a rally at the Katutura Multi-Purpose
       Youth Centre outside Windhoek, Nujoma said "we cannot allow Africa to be
       ruled by foreigners. Africa must be controlled by its African people".

       The President said Namibia would never allow foreigners to violate the
       interests of its citizens.

       "These foolish Europeans. They formed a political union (the EU) and
again
       they want to get our raw materials without paying us," the President
said to
       applause from those who braved yesterday's scorching heat.

       The President held a community meeting with Katutura residents 'On The
       World We Live In'.

       "Disturbances in the Great Lakes and the Congo are instigated by white
       imperialists who want to control the country, take out its riches
while the
       Congolese people live in poverty. This can no longer be allowed to
       continue," President Nujoma told the gathering.

       Referring to Namibia's participation in the DRC war, President
Nujoma said
       whoever touched an African on the continent was violating every genuine
       African.

       He said Namibia, being part and parcel of the African continent and
having
       successfully fought imperialism with the help of other Africans,
could not
       turn a blind eye to what was happening on the rest of the continent.

       "Nobody should take us as idiots who do not know what they are doing.
       When our forces are involved in ensuring peace and stability on the
       continent, some people who claim to be Namibians say we are there to kill
       Congolese people. We are there on the invitation of the legitimate
       government of President Laurent Kabila," he said.

       In a televised speech 10 days ago President Nujoma defended Namibia's
       involvement in the DRC saying Namibia was securing her own peace,
       stability and democracy and protecting the country's borders.

       He said the DRC was a fellow SADC member state which had fallen victim
       to a foreign-inspired conspiracy and duplicity by some African countries
       (Rwanda and Uganda).

       During his TV address, President Nujoma also took a swipe at the media,
       which he called unprincipled and accused of spreading distorted facts
       surrounding Namibia's military participation in the DRC alongside Angolan
       and Zimbabwean forces.

       He accused foreign forces who were conspiring with some Africans to
       destabilise African countries.

       On Friday the EU announced that it would consider reviewing its aid
to the
       countries involved in the DRC fighting to ensure that "to ensure [EU]
       community resources are not used to indirectly finance the war."

       The countries involved in the conflict are understood to draw up to N$1,1
       billion from the EU in terms of five-year development aid programmes
       started in 1995.

       The announcement of a possible aid review was made by top African affairs
       official, Commissioner Joao de Deus Pinheiro, in a speech
distributed at the
       EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

       Also:

       More EU aid to Namibia



       September 21, 1998



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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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