"The United Nations is here to promote peace in the world and any country that acts outside the United Nations is making a serious mistake."
Mandela, a frequent critic of US policy on Iraq, also said that countries were only challenging the mandate of the United Nations now because Secretary-General Kofi Annan is black.
A threat to world peace "I have also said when the secretary-generals were white, we never had the question of any country ignoring the United Nations," he said.
"But now that we have got the black secretary-generals like Boutros Boutros Ghali and now Kofi Annan, certain countries that believe in white supremacy, are ignoring the United Nations," he said
Nelson Mandela
Shame on You America!
The questions were prompted by Mandela hailing Castro's Cuba in May: "There's one thing where that country stands out head and shoulders above the rest. That is in its love for human rights and liberty." A week later in Libya, he praised Qaddaf's "commitment to the fight for peace and human rights in the world." These statements, which appeared in The New Republic, were never quoted on the networks when he said them, or when he visited here.