JOHANNESBURG, January 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – As the White House warned Thursday, January 30, that diplomatic efforts to settle the Iraqi standoff will last just "weeks, not months", Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela stressed that the sole reason for the looming U.S.-led attack on Iraq would be to gain control of its oil resources.

The former South African president also accused U.S. President George W. Bush of being unable to "think properly" and lambasted British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whom he said had been newly deployed as the "U.S. foreign minister".

"He (Blair) is no longer prime minister of Britain," Mandela charged at the opening of a three-day International Women's Forum in Johannesburg, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Bush is acting outside the United Nations and both he and Tony Blair are undermining the United Nations, an organization which was an idea sponsored by their predecessors."

U.S. Arrogant Behavior

Mandela said the "arrogant behavior" by the United States was mainly motivated by Iraq's rich oil reserves.

"Why does the United States behave so arrogantly? Their friend Israel has got weapons of mass destruction but because it's their ally they won't ask the United Nations to get rid of them.

"They just want the oil... We must expose this as much as possible," Mandela underlined.

"All Bush wants is Iraqi oil," Mandela charged. "He is making the greatest mistake of his life by trying to cause carnage."

"I will support (the United Nations) without reservation, but what I condemn is one power with a president who can't think properly and wants to plunge the world into holocaust," he said.

Mandela has consistently slammed U.S. policies in the past year, voicing his staunch opposition against a war on Iraq, in line with more diplomatic statements issued by Pretoria.

His latest scathing attack on the two world leaders came as South African President Thabo Mbeki prepared to leave for Britain to meet with Blair at the weekend.

"Mbeki will meet with Blair in the context of the global effort to avert war with Iraq," South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told AFP on Thursday.

South Africa has repeatedly called on the United States and its British ally to resolve the Iraqi crisis through the U.N. Security Council.

Mbeki, who also chairs the newly formed African Union, the successor to the Organization of African Union, will also brief Blair on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an economic recovery plan for the continent.

"He will brief his British counterpart about regional and continental efforts to bring about peace, security and stability as well as efforts aimed at the economic revival of the continent through NEPAD," Mamoepa said.

NEPAD enjoys widespread support from western leaders, including Blair, but Mbeki warned this week that a war on Iraq could hamper African development.

"War would be devastating not just to Iraq but also to the whole of the Middle East and to other countries of the world ... In a situation like that, we would have to say goodbye to African development," Mbeki stressed.

U.S. Warns Diplomacy to Last Weeks Not Months

More pressures on Iraq increases "the likelihood of this being resolved peacefully, as a result for example of his going into exile," Fleischer

Washington warned Thursday that its campaign to disarm Iraq peacefully will last just "weeks, not months", arguing that massive U.S. troop deployments in the Gulf may convince Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to seek exile.

With U.S. forces near Iraq reaching critical mass, Bush ramped up consultations with world leaders a week before Secretary of State Colin Powell presents new evidence against Baghdad to the U.N. Security Council.

"The president is using this window now to engage in very busy and active diplomacy. This will take place in a period of weeks, not months," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Bush was to meet with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and later with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, with claims Riyadh was seeking to facilitate Saddam's bloodless departure from power.

"The more pressure on Saddam Hussein and the more unified the world is the more the likelihood of this being resolved peacefully, as a result for example of his going into exile," said Fleischer.

"Let's hope it happens, but plans are being made on the likelihood that it won't," said Fleischer.

"There's only one person who knows the answer, and that's Saddam Hussein."

Fleischer said Saddam's exile would be "very helpful" but would not say whether the United States took talk of such an outcome seriously or was making any preparations to facilitate it.

As part of his diplomatic campaign, Bush welcomes British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his most stalwart ally on Iraq, to Camp David on Friday, January 31, five days before Powell goes before the U.N. Security Council.

Blair has steadfastly backed Bush's line on Iraq, even though he faces heavy pressure at home against possible war and must contend with France and Germany's resistance to military action.

London joined seven other European leaders in signing a letter published Thursday that appeals for unity with the United States on Iraq in a rebuff to Paris and Berlin, a move Fleischer took pains to praise.

"The president is very proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with such important leaders and he knows there are many others who are supportive of America's policies," said the spokesman.

Blair, Spain's Jose Maria Aznar, Italy's Berlusconi, Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, Hungary's Peter Medgyessy, Poland's Leszek Miller, Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen and President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, signed the letter missive, which ran in 12 European newspapers on Thursday.

Canada Tells US to Stick With U.N. on Iraq

"If one party, one state, acts by itself, it takes the responsibility by itself, it risks consequences in a complicated area like the Middle East," Graham

Canada on Thursday said U.N. efforts to disarm Iraq peacefully had not yet run their course and urged the United States not to act outside the world body's framework if it decides on military action.

Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said after meeting here with Powell that Ottawa was committed to disarming Saddam Hussein, but wanted to stick to the "ongoing" process outlined by U.N. Security Council resolution 1441.

He warned of risks the United States could face if it goes outside the parameters of the resolution which demands that Iraq disarm or face "serious consequences" and set up inspections to verify Baghdad's compliance.

"There is very clearly a recognition that 1441 is the way to go," Graham said, referring to a consensus reached by Canadian lawmakers during a Wednesday debate on Iraq in the House of Commons.

"1441 speaks of a process which is still ongoing and of consequences if that process demonstrates certain things," he told reporters at a news conference with Powell at the State Department.

"It isn't over yet because that process isn't complete and the demonstration has yet to be made," Graham said.

Powell said he gave Graham a "foretaste" of evidence he would present next week to the U.N. Security Council detailing various Iraqi violations of disarmament requirements, but would not elaborate on what it included.

However, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretian has said Ottawa wants to wait for a decision on force until at least February 14 when chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix presents a second report on Iraqi compliance.

Graham echoed that position on Thursday, saying he looked forward to Powell's presentation, but pointedly referring at least twice to the February 14 Blix report.

While promising Canadian support for any U.N. authorized action, Graham warned of the dangers the United States could face if it acted "unilaterally and arbitrarily" to disarm Iraq by force.

"If one party, one state, acts by itself, it takes the responsibility by itself, it risks consequences in a complicated area like the Middle East," he cautioned.

"The best way to ensure the security of the world and to ensure the security of the United States is through the United Nations because ultimately that is the world saying to Saddam Hussein: 'You have failed to act, here are the consequences.

This is not the United States acting unilaterally or arbitrarily, this is a world judgment'," Graham said.