The peace conference which was to be held in South Africa this Friday has been postponed indefinitely by the organizers. The government of South Africa has denied to issue a visa to His Holiness The Dalai Lama to attend the conference.
The objective of the conference was to promote peace through football before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa next year. The organizers had to postpone the event as other Nobel peace laureates pulled out of the event as well. South African archbishop emeritus, Desmund Tutu, Norwegian Nobel Committee and the former president F.W De Klerk all said they would boycott the event if the government did not change its decision. The government maintained that the decision was taken in the “best interests of the country” and that it had nothing against the religious leader.
There has been a speculation that the government has been under the pressure of the Chinese government, its close ally. The presidential spokesperson has admitted that the Chinese government did in fact approach the South African government regarding His Holiness, The Dalai Lama’s visit, but has denied that it was the reason. China has been a major trade partners with South Africa and one of the major investors in the continent.
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