ORGANISERS of a peace conference that was to have been attended by five Nobel laureates in Johannesburg this week said on Tuesday they had cancelled it after the South African Government denied a visa to the Dalai Lama.
Two of South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize laureates, the retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president F.W. de Klerk, condemned the Government for giving in to pressure from China to block the Tibetan spiritual leader's entry into the country and said they would refuse to participate in the conference if he was not there.
Conference organisers said South Africa's third Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the former president Nelson Mandela, was likely to have done the same.
The executive director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad, also said he would stay away.
The Government, through a spokesman, said the Dalai Lama would not be allowed to come to South Africa to attend the conference, which was meant to promote the 2010 soccer World Cup, because he would have distracted attention from
South Africa and drawn it instead to the contentious debate over the status of Tibet.
Thabo Masebe, a Government spokesman, said on Monday that the Tibetan leader's presence "would not be in South Africa's best interests".
The conference, which was to have begun on Friday, had been organised by South African soccer authorities.
Courtesy: The Canberra Times
Two of South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize laureates, the retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president F.W. de Klerk, condemned the Government for giving in to pressure from China to block the Tibetan spiritual leader's entry into the country and said they would refuse to participate in the conference if he was not there.
Conference organisers said South Africa's third Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the former president Nelson Mandela, was likely to have done the same.The executive director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad, also said he would stay away.
The Government, through a spokesman, said the Dalai Lama would not be allowed to come to South Africa to attend the conference, which was meant to promote the 2010 soccer World Cup, because he would have distracted attention from
South Africa and drawn it instead to the contentious debate over the status of Tibet.Thabo Masebe, a Government spokesman, said on Monday that the Tibetan leader's presence "would not be in South Africa's best interests".
The conference, which was to have begun on Friday, had been organised by South African soccer authorities.
Courtesy: The Canberra Times
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