Election ad controversy reached a new level this week as a foreign diplomat entered the fray.

South African Ambassador to the US, Franklin A. Sonn, was compelled to speak out this week after his comments -- during a recent visit -- appeared in a UBParty advertisement.

"They were obviously...not intended to support any political party nor to be involved in any political discourse,'' Mr. Sonn wrote in a letter to Murray Brown, spokesman of the former Anti-Apartheid Coalition.

Mr. Sonn was responding to a letter from the group, informing him that his statements made while he was in Bermuda in June "may be interpreted as partisan endorsements''.

During his visit, Mr. Sonn praised Bermuda's "economic and social progress''.

And last week a full-page UBP advertisement in The Royal Gazette displayed excerpts from the ambassador's interview with The Mid-Ocean News .

It stated: "Here's what Nelson Mandela's Ambassador to the US says about Premier Gordon and the Government she leads.'' And it continued with quotes lifted from the article.

But in a letter to the Editor of The Royal Gazette , Mr. Brown stated that the group "felt it important to share with the South African Ambassador to the US (their) concerns that his statements made while he was in Bermuda may be interpreted as partisan endorsements; particularly the unethical, un-authorised use of Nelson Mandela's name''.

And in a written reply, Mr. Sonn reiterated his praise of Bermuda and continued: "I was struck by the economic and social progress made and by the levels of non-racialism that have been achieved. It was also clear that much progress still needed to be made.

"Any statements I made were in the context of each particular occasion and in recognition of the role each one played in our struggle as well as in the current economic and social reconstruction of our own country.

"They were in no way partisan and were aimed at directing support for Bermuda as a whole and its admirable and progressive onward movement towards non-racialism...

"They were not, by inference, intended to reflect negatively in any way on any institution, body or person not present and/or not mentioned.

"They were obviously also not intended to support any political party nor to be involved in the local party political discourse.'' However, yesterday UBP spokesman Mike Winfield reacted positively to the ambassador's most recent comments.

"It basically reinforces everything that the United Bermuda Party is standing for. That was the purpose (of the ad),'' said Mr. Winfield.