Cape Town - Despite growing opposition to the war against Iraq, the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) yesterday decided not to halt South Africa's arms exports to the US and UK until the UN or other multilateral bodies decided it was contravening international obligations.

In a statement released at the end of a lengthy NCACC meeting here, Kader Asmal, the education minister who also chairs the committee, said the committee had taken "full cognisance of its authority and responsibility for regulatory control over the trade in armaments within the bounds of government policy" in its review of the situation in Iraq.

"The NCACC is satisfied that we are applying our policy consistently with the cabinet policy decision of August 1995 and the provisions of the National Conventional Arms Control Act," he said.

"Should any multilateral and binding decisions be taken, we will comply in line with our international obligations."

Last week the committee said in response to a query from Business Report that none of the current exports to the two countries by Denel, the state-owned arms manufacturer, contravened the committee's guiding principles and criteria.

The criteria stated that the committee "must avoid transfers of conventional arms that are likely to contribute to the escalation of regional conflicts, endanger peace by introducing destabilising military capabilities into a region or otherwise contribute to regional instability", Asmal said.

Analysts and political commentators said that "depending on which side of the ideological fence you sit", Asmal could be "entirely right or entirely wrong" in this assessment.

Some believed it did not sit well with the government's opposition to the invasion of Iraq.

The National Conventional Arms Control Act says the NCACC has to "take into account the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence of all sovereign countries in terms of the UN charter" - something the US and UK can claim they are doing, although many countries would contest this claim.

Asmal said last week that South Africa had maintained "normal arms trade relations with both the UK and the US for many years. There has been no noticeable increase in the type or quantity of the orders placed on the South African defence-related industries that can be attributed to the increased tension in Iraq."

He listed these contracts as involving the supply of small arms ammunition components to Royal Ordnance in the UK as well as 40mm infantry ammunition to the ministry of defence.

In 2001 South Africa supplied artillery ammunition to the US, while it had also supplied optical and electronic equipment to the UK.

In a statement last week, Denel said its arms sales were closely monitored by the NCACC and judged according to its own protocols, UN arms embargoes and South Africa's own foreign policy imperatives.

It had "not supplied any equipment to the US marines, nor to any other units or divisions of the US armed forces", it said.

It stated "for the record" that it had no contracts with Iraq, which was subject to "extremely tight arms embargoes administered by the UN, and as such (Denel) would not be in a position to contemplate such support even if it was requested".

With acknowledgements to Lynda Loxton and Business Report.