POLITICS-US: Clinton Opens Door to Nigeria’s Abacha

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

CAPE TOWN, Mar 27 1998 (IPS) - U.S. President Bill Clinton sprang a surprise here Friday by suggesting for the first time that Washington could accept the election of Nigerian dictator Gen. Sani Abacha as president of Nigeriaif he ran as a civilian.

“There are many military leaders who have taken over chaotic situations in African countries, that have moved toward democracy, and that can happen in Nigeria,” Clinton said. “If (Abacha) stands for election, we hope he will stand as a civilian.”

Clinton’s remarks, made at a news conference with South African President Nelson Mandela, contradicted official U.S. statements that Abacha’s election, either in uniform or in mufti, would be “unacceptable” and set off a scramble in Washington to set the record the straight.

At the State Department, spokesman James Foley insisted that US policy had not changed and that “a military dictatorship in civilian clothes is not acceptable” to Washington.

But Clinton’s statement on the second day of his visit to South Africa and midway through his unprecedented 11-day trip through the African continent appeared certain to muddy the waters as Abacha prepares Africa’s most populous nations for elections in October.

The news conference at the government buildings in Cape Town was the first Clinton has held since arriving in Ghana Monday. It was followed by a visit by the presidents to Robben Island where Mandela was held during the 27 years he spent in prison during the apartheid era.

Mandela welcomed Clinton’s visit here as “the high-water mark” of South Africa’s post-apartheid diplomacy and praised the U.S. president and his wife, Hillary, for having “the correct instincts on the major international questions facing the world today.”

At the same time, Mandela noted that he also had received Cuban President Fidel Castro and former Iranian President Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani and had invited Libyan leader Moammar Kathafi to visit South Africa – all major figures on Washington’s list of “rogue states”.

“Moral authority dictates that we should not abandon those who helped us in the darkest hour in the history of our country,” Mandela said.

The South African leader, who has expressed anger in the past at Washington’s denunciation his ties to these countries, reminded Clinton that the United Nations Charter calls on all member states to “try and settle their differences by peaceful methods.” He added that the African National Congress had applied the same principle in making peace in South Africa with the apartheid government.

“The United States as the leader of the world should set an example to all of us and help elminate tensions throughout the world,” Mandela said “One of the best ways of doing so is to call upon its enemies to say ‘let’s sit down and talk peace.’ I have no doubt that the role of the United States as the world leader would then be tremendously enhanced.”

For his part, Clinton heaped lavish praise on Mandela but declined to respond directly to the South African leader’s remarks. Asked later about U.S. policy towards Cuba, he said that the recent visit by Pope John Paul II to the Caribbean island would “do more to help the welfare of the Cuban people and to promote alternative institutions (there)” but that no other changes were foreseen.

On Washington’s policy toward Nigeria, Clinton said that he and Mandela had talked at some length and ” my policy is to do all that we can to persuade General Abacha to move toward general democracy and respect for human rights – release of the political prisoners, the holding of elections.

“If he stands for election, we hope he will stand as a civilian.”

It was that remark that caused something of a sensation back in Washington where, only two weeks ago, Clinton’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Susan Rice, carefully aligned U.S. policy toward Nigeria and Abacha’s election plans with that of Britain.

“Let me state clearly and unequivocally that an electoral victory by any military candidate in the forthcoming presidential election in Nigeria would be unacceptable,” she said in a carefully crafted speech on African policy. Rice, who is travelling with Clinton, was not immediately available for comment.

State Department, spokesman James Foley, who first blamed “wire service misreporting” for the mix-up, insisted that “what Assistant Secretary Rice said stands. …In other words, it is not sufficient for a general simply to rmeove his uniform and declare himself a civilian.”

“If we were to see the changes in Nigeria that we called for – the release of political prisoners, true freedom of the press, free political activity, free, fair and transparent elections – and (Abacha) were able to participate in such a process, I think it would be surprising to most observers that he would stand a chance of winning elections in such a process,” he added.

Responding to other questions, Mandela noted that Clinton and Deputy South African President Thabo Mbeki had discussed the new US-Africa trade initiative which passed the House of Representatives two weeks ago.

The plan, which will provide substantial trade benefits and investment funds and credits to African countries which liberalise their economies, has been criticised by some non-governmental groups here as a way to force fragile governments into far- reaching structural adjustment that will make it easier US and western business to extract resources and gain new markets.

Without elaborating, Mandela noted that the Clinton-Mbeki talks addressed “very sensitive matters,” but that Pretoria has “serious reservations” about the legislation.

“To us, it is not acceptable,” he said, “but, nevertheless, we accept each other’s integrity and are discussing the matter in that spirit.”

Clinton insisted that the bill “opens up more of the American market to more African trade …for countries that make greater strides toward democracy, human rights and economic reform. It seemed to me to strike the right kind of balance.”