July 2001 Africa News Headlines

MBABANE - Swaziland newspapers yesterday praised King Mswati III for swiftly revoking a controversial decree before his tiny kingdom was kicked out of the International Trade Organisation (ITO) and other world bodies.

The 32-year-old monarch bowed to pressure and repealed a decree on Wednesday that had allowed him to ban newspapers, jail those ridiculing him and overturn court rulings in the kingdom, sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique.

King Mswati repealed Decree No. 2 of 2001 after an public outcry, internationally and from within Swaziland.

The Times of Swaziland refers in an editorial to the kings decision as a wise one, "the right step in the right direction".

While the contentious decree of June 23 was repealed certain sections, including a provision that Swazi citizens can be detained without the option of bail for some offences, remain in place in the new decree.

An editorial in the Times of Swaziland claims some sections of the international community viewed the king as a dictator, but it praises him for listening to people's concerns and those of the international community.

"It takes a wise, foresighted and a democratic minded person to open his doors to views of other people, consult and finally emerge with a soothing remedy to injurious blunders as soon as possible," reads the editorial.

The government-owned Swazi Observer newspaper in its editorial calls on Swazi leaders to learn a lesson from these events.

The United States warned Swaziland earlier this month that it stood to lose preferential trading status under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act should it fail to revoke the June decree.

The Swazi Observer says the kings trip to the United Nations special sitting on HIV-AIDS in June helped him realise how other world leaders viewed the decree. - Nampa-Sapa-AFP

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