Ghana criticizes U.S. on Cuba and Libya

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Ghana criticised American policy in Cuba and Libya on Tuesday and called for an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Foreign Minister Victor Gbeho also said it was time for the international community to do as much in Africa as it has done in other regions, particularly the Balkans.

``We have seen in the past few months the kind of resources that the world has been willing and able to mobilise in the Balkans at short notice,'' he told the U.N. General Assembly shortly after President Clinton spoke.

``We do not see the same response to the tragedies of Africa,'' he said.

The Security Council is considering peacekeepers for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the United States wary about approving and paying for a large U.N. force.

Gbeho said that Washington's three-decade old economic embargo against Cuba was a ``breach of international law and a violation of the principles of the U.N. Charter.''

``We are concerned that the economic blockade continues to severely aggravate the plight of Cubans, especially the vulnerable groups, such as women, children and the elderly.''

Gbeho said that the Security Council should completely lift sanctions against Tripoli ``as a matter of urgency'' because Libya handed over for trial in the Netherlands last April two suspects accused of the 1988 mid-air bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The sanctions, which include an air and arms embargo, have been suspended and re-imposing them would be nearly impossible. But the United States has said it would not consider lifting them permanently until after the Lockerbie trial.

Gbeho also expressed ``unwavering support for the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to the establishment of an independent sovereign state with Jerusalem as it capital.''

He said that Prime Minister Ehud Barak's election had raised hopes for peace throughout the Middle East