David Clarke
Former South African president withdraws from US rights talk
South Africa’s last apartheid president, F.W. de Klerk, has withdrawn from a U.S. seminar about minority rights because he did not want to embarrass himself or his hosts in the current charged racial climate, his foundation said on Sunday. De Klerk, who was the head of South Africa’s white minority government until 1994, was scheduled to speak on July 1 at an American Bar Association (ABA) virtual event on issues such as minority rights, racism and the rule of law. But his participation unleashed a barrage of criticism from South African opposition parties and activists who called on ABA to cancel De Klerk’s attendance given his role in the apartheid-era security apparatus. “The allegation that De Klerk was involved in gross violations of human rights is baseless,” the F.W. de Klerk founda...
Turkey will target Khalifa Haftar’s forces if attacks on its interests in Libya – ministry
Turkey’s foreign ministry warned on Sunday that it would deem the forces of Libyan General Khalifa Haftar legitimate targets if their attacks on its interests and diplomatic missions in Libya continued. Turkey backs Libya’s internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and views Haftar’s forces as “putschists”. In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that “if our missions and our interests in Libya are targeted, we will deem Haftar’s forces legitimate targets.” It also said the attacks on Tripoli’s Mitiga airport early on Saturday, part of an intensified barrage of artillery fire on the capital, were war crimes. On Thursday, Turkey and Italy said the area around their embassies in Tripoli was shelled. Get more stories like this on Twitter
