RESTRICTED
the most recent example of South African Ministerial attendance at an international forum was the Paris Chemical Weapons Conference held last January. In that case although there was a walkout (which included the French delegation, who were hosts) when Pik Botha rose to speak, his participation did not adversely affect the outcome of the Conference.
10. Namibia is due to become independent on or around 1 April 1990 (ie before the Summit). We have therefore agreed with the UN that an invitation should not be issued to Namibia until after independence.
11.
Under the terms of the Letter of Understanding which we are negotiating with the UN, we shall be required to arrange for necessary visas to be issued expeditiously and without charge to all invited participants including those invited by the UN Secretary-General. MVD have confirmed that this should create no difficulty.
Invitations
12.
The
As the Home Office lead on UK drugs policy and are organising the Conference, it is proposed that invitations should be issued by the Home Secretary. But Ministerial representation from other Governments will vary according to which Ministry has lead responsibility for drugs work and each Government's own priorities for the Conference. Conference is likely to be attended by Ministers with a variety of portfolios including Interior, Justice, Health and Foreign Affairs. As a first step, therefore, we propose to instruct posts to send a diplomatic note to Foreign Ministries, providing details of the Conference and its objectives and asking for advice on which Minister
should be sent the formal invitation from the Home Secretary. The Home Office are aiming to issue formal invitations during November.
Costs
13.
The Home Office will be meeting all the administrative costs of the Conference. Any FCO costs will be met from existing budgets.
14.
The Home Office and we are aiming for a tightly targetted conference and there will be little to be gained from trying to secure the maximum possible attendance.
There
RESTRICTED
/are