Mbeki heckled in UK over AIDS stance

GLASGOW, Scotland -- South African President Thabo Mbeki was heckled by AIDS protesters as he arrived in Glasgow to open a university building named after his father.

The demonstrators were angered at Mbeki's questioning of the link between HIV and AIDS and his government's reluctance to pay for specialised drugs to fight the disease.

After pipers stopped playing Scotland the Brave to herald his arrival on Wednesday, one protester shouted: "AIDS is the new apartheid."

Other demonstrators waved banners which read: "AZT (drug to treat the disease) saves babies' lives," and "Wake up HIV The Right to Treatment."

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Mbeki, who is on a four-day visit to Britain, avoided the protesters and did not refer to Africa's AIDS epidemic during a speech to about 400 students and dignitaries.

Speaking on the steps to the new health building at Glasgow Caledonian University, which is being named in honour of his father, Govan, Mbeki said: "It is clear that if we are to change South Africa for the better we are going to have to be more educated.

"Education provides us with the necessary skills that we need to transform South Africa."

The president was accompanied by his wife Zanele, and dignitaries including the Duke of York and Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell.

The South African leader caused an international uproar last year when he supported the views of a few scientists who question the link between HIV and AIDS and believe HIV testing should be stopped.

The controversy was reignited in April when he again questioned the value of HIV tests and rejected growing calls for the government's public health system to provide anti-retroviral drugs to AIDS patients.

AIDS activists say Mbeki's views have sown confusion about how to deal with the epidemic in a nation where an estimated 11 percent of the population -- about 4.9 million people out of 45 million -- is HIV-positive, one of the world's highest infection rates.

The president, who 40 years ago fled to Britain to escape apartheid, recalled during his speech the connection between Glasgow and his family.

His father was named after the Rev William Govan, a Glasgow missionary who ran a school that both the elder Mbeki and former South African leader Nelson Mandela attended.

Mbeki will address Britain's Parliament on Thursday when he will also meet Prime Minister Tony Blair for talks that will focus on African regional issues and South Africa's role in forging stability on the continent.