Tutu urges ANC not to choose Zuma

He said most people would be ashamed to have Mr Zuma as leader and that South Africa deserved someone better.

Mr Zuma, ex-vice president of South Africa, said Church leaders should pray for people and not condemn them.

Acquitted of rape last year, Mr Zuma is vying for the ANC leadership with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

One of the two ANC veterans will prevail during a five-day congress that starts on Sunday in Polokwane, Limpopo.

'Ashamed'

If he wins, Mr Zuma will be in line to become ANC candidate for president of South Africa in 2009 elections.

"We're very worried that this leader [Jacob Zuma] had relations with a woman who regarded him as a parent"
Desmond Tutu
former Archbishop of Cape Town

But Archbishop Tutu, one of South Africa's most powerful moral voices, urged the ANC to reject Mr Zuma, saying they should "not choose someone of whom most of us would be ashamed".

"We're very worried that this leader had relations with a woman who regarded him as a parent," he told South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper.

This was an apparent reference to the woman Mr Zuma was acquitted of raping. She was a family friend less than half his age with whom he had unprotected sex while being aware she was HIV-positive.

"Although he is very likeable, we have to ask ourselves: 'What is happening in the ANC?'" Archbishop Tutu continued.

"I would like to see these issues being taken seriously and addressed."

Mr Zuma responded by saying it was "the business of the leaders of the Church... [to] pray for people, not condemn them".

Once close allies, he and Mr Mbeki publicly fell out in 2005 when Mr Zuma was sacked as deputy president over corruption allegations.

The case against Mr Zuma was thrown out by a judge last year but he could still face charges in connection with a multi-million dollar arms deal.

Mr Mbeki has already served two terms and cannot lead the country again but correspondents say if he were to remain ANC leader he would be well placed to decide who succeeds him as national leader.

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