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Showing posts from September 14, 2010

Nelson Mandela 'felt betrayed by Tony Blair over decision to join Iraq invasion' | World news | The Guardian

Nelson Mandela 'felt betrayed by Tony Blair over decision to join Iraq invasion' | World news | The Guardian : "Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela with Tony Blair in May 2007. Photograph: Jerome Delay/AP Nelson Mandela felt so betrayed by Tony Blair's decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq that he launched a fiery tirade against him in a phone call to a cabinet minister, it emerged today. Peter Hain, a lifelong anti-apartheid campaigner who knows the ex-South African president well, said Mandela was 'breathing fire' down the line in protest at the 2003 military action. The trenchant criticisms were made in a formal call to the minister's office, not in a private capacity, and Blair was informed of what had been said, Hain added. The details are revealed in Hain's new biography of Mandela. 'He rang me up when I was a Cabinet minister in 2003, after the invasion,' he told the Press Association. 'He said: 'A big mistake, Peter,