Namibia: Independence Negotiations (Hansard, 30 July 1982)

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Belstead)
My Lords, in a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General on 12th July, the Five recorded the agreement of all parties to the constitutional principles proposed for the envisaged Constituent Assembly. In the course of informal consultations with the Front-Line States and SWAPO in New York, the Five have made encouraging progress towards the resolution of other outstanding issues relating to implementation of Security Council Resolution 435.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for that Answer, may I press him a little further on what has happened since the publication of the letter? First, may I ask him whether he is aware that every word spoken in answer to my Question this morning will be reported back to Africa, where the final decision is bound to be made? May I also ask him whether he has read this week's South African press, which has reported that the South African Government are now linking continued negotiations with the Contact Group with two points—the first being the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, and the second being the inclusion of at least one member of Unita, the rebel group in Angola, in the Angolan Government? That has been reported this week in the South African press.
Finally, may I ask the noble Lord, since it has been reported in this morning's press that two days ago his office assured the anti-apartheid movement that there were no formal preconditions relating to the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola—

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
Can he explain the meaning of the word "formal", which could cause some concern?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, the first and the last of the noble Lord's supplementary questions deal with the matter of withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola. As a member of the Five, Britain agrees that while 450 withdrawal of Cuban troops cannot be a formal precondition for a Namibia settlement, it is a desirable and interrelated objective. A Namibia solution provides an outstanding opportunity for a broader regional settlement. So far as the noble Lord's question about South African views of the Angolan Cabinet is concerned, I have no comments to make on that.

The Earl of Bessborough
My Lords, can my noble friend say whether any progress has been made in agreeing on the electoral system to be employed?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, in their letter to the United Nations Secretary-General on 12th July, which I mentioned in my original reply to the noble Lord, Lord Hatch, the Five stated their belief that a decision on the method to be employed to elect the Constituent Assembly should be made in accordance with the provisions of Security Council Resolution 435, without causing delay in the implementation of the resolution.

§ Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that we very much welcome his statement about no preconditions over the Cuban troops in Angola, and that we all very much hope for peace in the whole region? May I ask whether he can comment on many statements in the press that Western diplomats in the United Nations are worried by what they call noises from the military in South Africa and the president's latest accusations against SWAPO?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I am bound to say that we are concerned at any increase in violence in the Namibia context, by either side—and by that I mean both South Africa and SWAPO. We have always made it clear to both sides that increased violence cannot help the prospects of success for the Five's continuing efforts.

§ Lord Duncan-Sandys
My Lords, in his first reply the noble Lord said that the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola was desirable; I felt that remark to be rather feeble, if I may say so. I would ask the noble Lord to assure us that the Government recognise that the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola is an essential element in the establishment of stable conditions in southern Africa.

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I think that the words I used were that a Namibia solution provides an outstanding opportunity for a broader regional settlement. I like to think that those words are robust; they are certainly meant so to be. I consider that this is a desirable and interrelated objective, even though it cannot be a formal precondition for Namibia.

§ Lord Brockway
My Lords, while I welcome the fact that the impossible dual electoral proposal has been withdrawn, may I ask the noble Lord whether he can indicate to us what is now the proposal for the election? Secondly, may I ask him whether he is aware that the Angolan Government have indicated that if the South African troops were withdrawn from Namibia a solution in the withdrawal of the Cuban armies would be more acceptable?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, so far as the noble Lord's second supplementary question is concerned, I think we must see how we go along those lines, but both the eventualities which the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, mentions are, I think, wholly desirable. So far as the details are concerned—that is, the nuts and bolts of the electoral process being proposed by the Five—I can today only reiterate that the Five are doing their best to narrow the differences between the parties on the outstanding issues, and the two main outstanding issues are the electoral process and the composition and deployment of the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord to go one stage further so far as the Cuban troops are concerned? Is this not a matter which is just as much within the sovereignty of the Angolan Government as the presence of American troops in Europe is within the sovereignty of European countries? Further, would he tell us whether it is true that representatives of the Contact Group are now in Windhoek; and, if so, what are they doing there?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, so far as the first question is concerned, the presence of Cuban troops in Angola is a matter of concern to all who are concerned with the Namibia process; and I repeat that the process of trying to sort out the Namibia problem provides an outstanding opportunity for a broader regional settlement in this matter. So far as the presence of a mission of the Five in Windhoek is concerned, that mission is there in order to bring the internal parties up to date on developments in New York, and I think that is a highly desirable thing for the Five to do.