President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa today issued his most stinging evaluation of the war against Iraq, saying that the United States and Britain had unevenly applied standards of democracy, and warning Africans that they could be the next victims of what he depicted as international bullying. Mr. Mbeki opened a conference on elections and democracy in Africa by challenging participants to do more than simply recommit to Western principles such as free elections, a multiparty system and independent human rights monitors. He compared the invasion of Iraq to force-feeding a person on a hunger strike, and said that real democracy was the product of evolution, not something to be imposed. ''The prospect facing the people of Iraq should serve as sufficient warning that in future we, too, might have others descend on us, guns in hand to force-feed us,'' Mr. Mbeki said. ''If the United Nations does not matter,'' he continued, why should ''the little countries of Africa'' think that ''we matter and will not be punished if we get out of line?''
Mr. Mbeki, South Africa's second black president since the end of white minority rule in 1994, has faced pressure from Britain over his country's policies in Zimbabwe. Western diplomats have accused the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, of launching a new wave of repression against political foes.
Mr. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since the end of white-minority rule and his critics charge that he has undermined democracy and installed an authoritarian regime. Mr. Mbeki, architect of what government officials call a ''quiet diplomacy'' in Zimbabwe, has avoided public condemnation of Mr. Mugabe. And in his speech today, he lashed out instead at Britain. ''Great Britain does not limit the period during which a person may hold the position of prime minister, to say nothing about the hereditary position of head of state,'' he said. ''It does not have an independent electoral commission that conducts elections. It does not have an independent human rights commission.'' He offered what seemed to be a sarcastic comment about Britain, the former colonial power in both South Africa and Zimbabwe, and its pronouncements on the validity of elections in Zimbabwe. ''I have never heard of international observers verifying whether any British election was free and fair,'' Mr. Mbeki said. ''Instead, I have heard of observers visiting the United Kingdom during election time to learn about how democratic elections should be conducted.''
Source: New York Times
