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28 March 2024

Ahmadinejad, Gaddafi, Mugabe comment

Published
By AFP/AP

British riots mean Cameron must go: Libya

The regime of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi on Wednesday called for British Prime Minister David Cameron to step down, saying he had "lost all legitimacy" because of the riots shaking Britain.

"Cameron and his government must leave after the popular uprising against them and the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations by police," official news agency Jana quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim as saying.

"Cameron and his government have lost all legitimacy," he said.

"These demonstrations show that the British people reject this government which is trying to impose itself through force."

Kaaim called on the UN "Security Council and the international community to not stay with its arms crossed in the face of the flagrant violation of the rights of the British people."

Nightly riots which began in London and quickly spread to other major cities have gripped Britain since Saturday when an angry crowd marched to demand justice after 29-year-old Marc Duggan was shot dead by police in London.

Britain and France are spearheading Nato’s aerial bombing campaign against the Kadhafi regime since March, when the United Nations approved action to protect Libyan civilians.

 

Ahmadinejad urges UN to take action over Britain riot

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to take action over the rioting in Britain, arguing it was hypocritical in its reaction to such events.

Ahmadinejad, whose government is under international sanction for its controversial nuclear program and has been condemned by the Western countries such as Britain for its handling of protests and dissent, also called on British officials to listen to the demands of their people.

"The UN is silent. Human rights bodies are silent," Ahmadinejad said on state radio following a Cabinet meeting. "If one percent of this happens in countries that oppose the West, they scream until they are hoarse."

"Why is the Security Council silent?" he said, also questioning its willingness to take action directed at one of its five veto-wielding permanent members.

Iran's nuclear file has been a fixture before the council, where the United States, Britain, China, Russia and France hold permanent seats. The other 10 spots rotate between other UN member states, and the council is the only body within the United Nations that can authorize any punitive measure, including military action, on countries.

Tehran is under several rounds of sanctions for its disputed nuclear program — one which the United States and its allies believe is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran disputes that claim, saying the program is for peaceful purposes only, such as generating electricity.

Ahmadinejad's comments appear to be a direct jab at Britain, which supported the opposition movement during postelection turmoil in 2009.

Iranian opposition members say scores were killed in heavy crackdowns by government forces and militia allied to Ahmadinejad, while hundreds more were either wounded or carted off to prison. The government has said 30 people were killed in the protests.

The unrest in Britain began Saturday after an initially peaceful protest over a police shooting in a London neighborhood turned violent. It has since spread to other cities in the country.

Iranian state media has seized on the rioting as an opportunity for payback, dubbing the violence there a "civil war." Hardline lawmakers have urged London to allow an Iranian human rights delegation to monitor the situation in the country.

In comments directed at Britain's leadership, including Prime Minister David Cameron, Ahmadinejad said the officials should "stand by their own people."

"They should change their attitude, change their management and deal with their own people instead of intervening in others' affairs," he said, referring to Britain's role in Afghanistan, Iraq and its participation in the Nato airstrikes on Libya.

"They were claiming that they are a role model and advocator of freedom, human rights and democracy, but what behavior do they apply in dealing with their own people," said Ahmadinejad.

In Iran's ally Syria, where Britain's foreign ministry has said President Bashar Al Assad has lost legitimacy by killing demonstrators, state-run television repeatedly showed footage of a policeman chasing and knocking a man down.

A breaking news caption read: "Cameron: 'We face a problem confronting the gangs in Britain'".

 

Zimbabwe's Mugabe to UK: 'Put out your own fires'

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe tells Britain "to put out your own fires" and to stop interfering in his southern African nation.

Mugabe spoke Tuesday at a military parade honoring Zimbabwe's armed forces. He said "London is burning," referring to three days of arson, crime and looting in the capital of the former colonial power. He also referred to recent financial upheavals in the United States as "problems" the country should attend to.

He insisted sanctions by Western nations have stalled training and modernization programs in the military. Economic restrictions on Mugabe and his party elite were imposed to protest human rights violations implicating the police and military in recent years.

Mugabe said, "We don't have any fires here. Please leave us alone."