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Military

16 November 2001

Text: Former South African President Mandela Condemns Terrorism

(Warns that struggle for freedom and peace continues) (1860)
The September 11 terrorist attack on the United States reminds
everyone that there has been no end to the struggle for freedom and
peace worldwide, former South African President Nelson Mandela
stressed November 14.
Speaking at the Anwar Sadat Peace Lecture at the University of
Maryland outside Washington, Mandela said "the terrible audacity of
the events of 11 September 2001 shook all of us out of preconceptions
about peace and security in the world.
"It is not clear that we have already fully comprehended the
implications and consequences of what happened on that day, but surely
the world will not be the same after those events."
The attack, with such "cold-blooded efficiency executed in the heart
of the most powerful nation in the world," he said, reminds everyone
that that the world "stands exposed to terrorism that confounds
because of its utter and ultimate lack of respect for law and
convention."
Terrorism has not just been confined to New York and Washington,
Mandela noted, reminding everyone that the defining feature of
terrorism is its "ruthless and deliberate attack on innocent
civilians."
Mandela reiterated remarks made by President Bush that any campaign
conducted against terrorism should be against terrorists and not
against Muslims of Arab nations or its people.
The former South African president also briefly discussed the Middle
East peace situation, saying it was entirely appropriate as a tribute
to the late Egyptian leader, Anwar Sadat. Mandela also discussed the
transitional government of national unity in Burundi which was
installed November 1.
"The challenges of finding peace are as complex now as they were in
the times of Anwar Sadat," Mandela told his audience.
Following is the text of former President Mandela's remarks, as
prepared for delivery:
(begin text)
SADAT PEACE LECTURE
University of Maryland
Wednesday, 14 November
It is a great honour to have been invited to deliver this lecture in
the name of Anwar al-Sadat, a great African leader and man who in his
life faced and dealt with the complex challenges of making peace,
whether within a single nation or amongst nations.
One can of course not speak of Anwar Sadat without thinking of and
paying tribute to his great mentor and presidential predecessor, Gamal
Abdel Nasser. His name shines brightly in the gallery of African
heroes, and statesmen; and we salute his memory too tonight.
It was thought proper to give as the title to our own autobiography
the phrase "long walk to freedom." I shall not pretend to be a
literary critic even where it concerns a work written by myself. What
I can say about that phrase is that it not only signals
retrospectively the length of struggle to attain freedom and peace; it
is also, one hopes, a call to readers to be ever attentive that the
struggle for freedom and peace is a continuing one. We do not ever
reach an end to a road where we can sit down and lay down tools.
Recent and current events in the world have forced us to anew, and
perhaps even in new ways, focus on the complexities of maintaining,
establishing and consolidating peace on our planet. We were hopeful
that the beginning of the new century was increasingly witnessing the
dawn of consensus about global responsibility for peace.
The terrible audacity of the events of 11 September 2001 shook all of
us out of preconceptions about peace and security in the world. It is
not clear that we have already fully comprehended the implications and
consequences of what happened on that day, but surely the world will
not be the same after those events.
The events, with such cold-blooded efficiency executed in the heart of
the most powerful nation in the world, reminded that all of the world
stands exposed to terrorism that confounds because of its utter and
ultimate lack of respect for law and convention.
Acts of terrorism have of course not been confined to those we saw in
New York and Washington on 11 September. Many parts of the world, too
many parts in fact, continue to be haunted by this scourge that is
terrorism. It assumes many forms and presents itself as in service of
many causes. Its defining feature is its ruthless and deliberate
attack on innocent civilians.
It was the perversely spectacular nature of the events of 11 September
-- and not that other lives lost are less valued than those -- that
focused the world's mind anew on the threat of terrorism. It starkly
confronted us with some of the moral issues around the pursuit of
peace in the world.
We have had occasion to express ourselves publicly in support of the
current military actions by the United States and Britain in pursuit
of those they identified as the perpetrators of the acts of terror. We
accept that the United States and Britain are bent on bringing to book
the identified terrorists and that the unfortunate civilian casualties
that arise are coincidental. We accept that they will and are taking
all precautions possible within a war situation to minimise civilian
casualties and suffering.
The tragedy of war -- and therefore one of the main reasons why we
should redouble our collective efforts to create a world in which war
shall have no place -- is that inevitably innocent civilians and
bystanders suffer and die. In the process of war infrastructure, so
vital to the lives of ordinary citizens, gets destroyed. This is
undoubtedly happening again in the military activities conducted by
the United States and Britain in Afghanistan.
Those in that country -- already so devastated by war and conflict --
who refuse to co-operate with the international forces against
terrorism, have brought this war on the country and are the ones in
the first place responsible for this further tragic suffering.
We must wish that the military action needed in pursuit of the
objectives against terrorism will be concluded in the shortest time
possible and that the world attention can turn to the other forms of
action required to combat and eradicate terrorism, thereby creating a
safer and more secure world for all.
We trust that the international community and agencies will be giving
all the humanitarian assistance possible to the people of Afghanistan,
now already in the conditions of war and also on the longer term as
that country needs to be reconstructed after so much war and
suffering.
We must trust above all that in Afghanistan, and all over the world,
democracy will be established and the interests and well being of the
people will be supreme.
We shall not be as arrogant to dictate that one particular form of
democracy that we are used to and practice in our own country,
provides the answer to all situations. There are countries without the
popular institutions we know, that provide in the social and economic
needs of their citizens to a far greater extent than many of the
popular democracies. What one is asking for, is that government serves
the people and that their interests be the priority in national life.
In a world where, as we are now witnessing, the pursuit of peace and
the conduct of war sometimes coincide, it is absolutely necessary that
our international and multilateral bodies become more effective
agencies for conflict management, resolution and prevention, and in
the fight against terrorism. The manner in which virtually all of the
nations of the world responded to condemn terrorism provides the basis
for multilateral action, with the United Nations particularly key in
this regard.
The support that the United States and Britain have received from the
international community for their stance and action against terrorism,
must surely in future encourage them to lend their strongest support
to making our world body an effective and potent agency for dealing
with these international issues affecting peace and our common safety.
It is often warned that the current conflict should not be dealt with
in a manner that divides the Islamic and non-Islamic world. We have
right at the outset, and also in our communications with President
Bush, said that any campaign conducted should be against terrorism and
not against Muslims or Arab nations and people.
We almost regard it as offensive to repeat that warning as if Islam is
in any way implicated. Leaders in the Islamic world have expressed
themselves as strongly as any against terrorism and those acts of
terror. Islamic countries form as an important bulwark against
terrorism as any other bloc of countries in the international
community.
The longer term issues in the fight to eradicate terrorism -- and this
does not mean that these will have to wait for later to be addressed
-- concern the resolution of conflicts in many areas and the
developmental needs of poorer countries and regions.
It is appropriate in this Sadat lecture that we should point
specifically to the situation in the Middle East and the imperative
that a lasting and just settlement be found to that long simmering
conflict. Towards the end of 1999, we visited a number of capitals in
that region and stipulated three conditions for finding a settlement.
We repeat those conditions.
Firstly, the withdrawal of Israel from all occupied territories;
secondly, the unequivocal commitment by the Arab countries to the
right of Israel to exist within secure borders; and thirdly, an
international commission acceptable to both parties, to oversee the
negotiations and implementation of agreements.
There are many other parts of the world where violent conflicts
continue to rage. In all of these the world, through the world body
and regional organisations, need to be involved as the common concern
of all of humanity.
In Burundi, for example, we have just managed with the assistance of
the international community to reach a political agreement amongst the
negotiating parties, with a transitional government of national unity
installed on 1 November. Now the support of the United Nations and the
international community is required for peacekeeping activities and
particularly for the development of that poor country.
Ultimately, the world must take common and global responsibility for
social and economic development all over the globe. While the divide
between the rich and the poor, with the latter vastly outnumbering the
former, continues to grow, we allow fertile breeding ground for
discontent and for extremism and terrorism. Our fight for peace is
also and importantly a war against poverty and deprivation.
The challenges of finding peace are as complex now as they were in the
times of Anwar Sadat. The events of recent and current times may just
be the warning sound for us to take a global responsibility for
addressing the expressions as well as the underlying causes of
terrorism and other threats against peace.
The long walk, the constant struggle for peace, continues. It never
was an easy road, and is certainly not so now. We have to reconnoiter
many difficult twists and turns, and find answers to complex moral and
practical questions. A global partnership on all aspects of the quest
for peace, makes that road considerably more negotiable.
I thank you for listening to me.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



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