Howe trip to S.A. given little hope

Press, 23 July 1986, Page 12

Howe trip to S.A. given little hope

NZPA-Reuter Brussels Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, was setting out on a peace mission to South Africa today with slim hopes of success, and harsh criticism of Britain’s opposition to punitive economic sanctions against Pretoria. Sir Geoffrey told his fellow European Economic Community Ministers yesterday that the trip should not be regarded as a last chance for peace because that would make it a hopeless mission. But diplomats said few Ministers expected the trip to produce any significant new dialogue between the country’s white minority and its black opposition. Ministers were prepared to stick to last month’s agreement at the E.E.C.’s summit meeting in The Hague to give Sir Geoffrey a chance to bring peaceful change in South Africa, they said. Britain has come in for

fierce criticism in the E.E.C. and from the Commonwealth over the sanctions issue. Failure by Sir Geoffrey to win new concessions from Pretoria towards ending apartheid could lead to overwhelming pressure on Britain from its E.E.C. and Commonwealth partners to end its opposition to sanctions, the diplomats said. Sir Geoffrey said yesterday that the whole world wanted steps taken to end apartheid and that Britain would have, no problem joining such action. But he would not say what would be done or when, addinng only that he would regard more E.E.C. measures against South Africa as “likely to be necessary” if his mission failed to bring peaceful change. Sir Geoffrey, who has already visited some of the “frontline” States neighbouring South Africa since he received the

E.E.C. mandate, is due to meet the South African President, Mr Pieter Botha, today and again on July 29. British officials said Sir Geoffrey was also hoping to have talks with a wide spectrum of black representatives during his fiveday mission. But the African National Congress, the country’s main guerrilla group, has so far refused to see him. Diplomats said other E.E.C. member states had tried to secure a meeting for Sir Geoffrey with the A.N.C., but there were no indications whether they would be successful. Britain, backed by West Germany and Portugal, blocked moves at the E.E.C. summit meeting for sanctions to back up mainly symbolic measures such as a recall of defence attaches from Pretoria, which was agreed to after an earlier E.E.C. mission to South Africa in September.