SW1 has finally caught up with Guido’s exclusive reporting from last January on the little-regarded Africa Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Pelindaba Treaty, to which Mauritius is a signatory. Here we go…
Mauritius would have to be compliant. The deal:
“Prohibits the research, development, manufacture, stockpiling, acquisition, testing, possession, control or stationing of nuclear weapons, as well as the dumping of radioactive wastes. The Treaty also prohibits any attack against nuclear installations in the zone by Treaty parties and requires them to maintain the highest standards of physical protection of nuclear material, facilities and equipment, which are to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.”
Reports say that Diego Garcia is a crucial base for all manner of US military nuclear applications. The Telegraph reports that the Mauritian Deputy PM told a meeting as follows: “The Pelindaba Treaty… it has been in place for years. It does not, unfortunately, ban the presence of nuclear (weapons), it prevents the storage. There is a difference between storage & transit.” The United States will not tolerate any inhibition on its ability to freely operate nuclear weapons on the base…
In Henry Mance’s piece today for the FT, lunching with Nigel Farage:
“Splendido!” Farage says, when the drinks arrive; I suppose it’s a step to European reconciliation. We clink glasses, and he lights the first of two back-to-back Benson & Hedges. A few minutes later, we’re back downstairs. “Are you drinking? Good.” He orders a glass of Sauvignon blanc for each of us — not a bottle, “because it’s Lent” — followed by a bottle of claret, to have with our meal. They say Farage drinks less than he used to. They say a lot of things.”