WORLD : Thatcher Refuses to Join in Call for Sanctions Against Apartheid
Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused today to join a call by other Commonwealth leaders for beefed-up sanctions against South Africa to end apartheid, insisting the moves would be “utterly irresponsible.”
Despite increasing pressure on Thatcher to revise her policy, she persisted in her stand against financial sanctions as she has done for the last four years.
Thatcher said South African President Frederik W. de Klerk’s “willingness to listen to all shades of opinion, allow peaceful demonstrations and to release major political prisoners was a major step forward and should be recognized as such.”
She also reiterated her view that economic sanctions are against the interests of South Africa’s black population of 26 million.
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