Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-07-Speech-4-186"
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"en.20000907.7.4-186"2
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"Mr President, of course I feel sympathy for the 12 British soldiers captured in Sierra Leone by one of the armed gangs plaguing the country. They, too, are the victims of a policy whose main victim is the people of Sierra Leone. But primarily, that policy is a result of government action, of the action of the UK Government supported by all the major western powers, especially France, and the UN.
I find it disgusting that the resolution makes no mention of the United Kingdom’s past and present role in that country. After plundering and exploiting the region, that former colonial power rigged the elections and imposed a government that mainly represents its own interests. Its machinations are one of the main contributing factors in a barbaric civil war in which it is implicated directly, by its diplomacy and by the naval pressure it is exerting, and indirectly by the behaviour on the ground of the troops of its former African colonies, which is just as dreadful as that of the armed gangs. These armed gangs, including the RUF, certainly do not represent the interests of the people of Sierra Leone, in terms either of their methods or their objectives. But, however great their responsibility for the misfortunes of their country, it does not match the cynicism of the British ministers and high dignitaries.
To conclude, we will vote against this resolution, which conceals a colonialist policy that is hardly in keeping with today’s world."@en1
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