March 08, 2004, 15:59
The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) has rejected claims made by the Democratic Alliance (DA) regarding South African arms sales to Haiti. In a statement today, the NCACC said it had approved the sale of "a modest amount of material", as well as bulletproof vests, for the police force of the Haitian government to assist in maintaining safety and security.
"Accusations of impropriety by the DA's (federal council chairperson) Mr James Selfe, as reported in the press, are simply untrue.
"First, Selfe claims that the NCACC did not apply the criteria of the (National Conventional Arms Control) Act. This claim is false.
"When we reviewed the request from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a legitimate regional body representing 15 nations, we applied the relevant criteria of the act," the statement said. "Reviewing arms sales on a case-by-case basis, as the act requires, we found that this case met the standards of contributing to regional security, which was the basis of the request from Caricom, and the protection of the national sovereignty of a member country of the United Nations with a democratically-elected government."
http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/government/0,2172,75454,00.html NATIONAL
DA's Haiti arms claims rejected
Cape Town, South Africa
08 March 2004 16:40
The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) on Monday rejected claims made by the Democratic Alliance regarding South African arms sales to Haiti.
In a statement, the NCACC said it had approved the sale of "a modest amount of material", as well as bulletproof vests, for the police force of the Haitian government to assist in maintaining safety and security.
"Accusations of impropriety by the DA's
Mr James Selfe, as reported in the press, are simply untrue.
"First, Selfe claims that the NCACC did not apply the criteria of the Act. This claim is false.
"When we reviewed the request from the Caribbean Community , a legitimate regional body representing 15 nations, we applied the relevant criteria of the Act," the statement said.
"Reviewing arms sales on a case-by-case basis, as the Act requires, we found that this case met the standards of contributing to regional security, which was the basis of the request from Caricom, and the protection of the national sovereignty of a member country of the United Nations with a democratically elected government."
Secondly, Selfe claimed that nothing in the Act provided for "assisting a sovereign state in maintaining its territorial integrity".
"This claim is false. Selfe narrows the meaning of the Act, which explicitly requires also the NCACC to 'take into account the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence of all sovereign countries in terms of the United Nations Charter'.
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=32364