African diplomats and the mayor of New York City have become locked in a war over parking tickets.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that 25 countries, more than half of them African, owe the city $30m in unpaid parking fines.

Diplomats from nations from Zimbabwe to Ethiopia to Senegal, owe about $10m and have amassed more than 63,000 parking violations of one sort or another.

One of the main targets of New York City's clampdown on diplomatic cars is Nigeria, which comes in third on the list of 25 worst offenders behind Egypt and Kuwait.

Nigeria

According to the City of New York Finance department, Nigeria has 10,000 unpaid parking tickets and owes them 1,255,634 dollars.

Former Nigerian diplomat Chika Onyeani, who lives in the United States, says that the city's mayor was unfairly targeting African embassies.

"Most of the major countries have their own buildings and can afford to park," he told Leslie Goffe on BBC Network Africa .

Diplomats routinely ignore the signs

"A lot of African countries can't even pay their bills let alone pay for parking spaces."

For the moment, New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has postponed his threat to begin towing away the illegally parked cars of diplomats after a deal with Secretary of State Colin Powell to reduce the number of consular licence plates issued.

But things are still nowhere near resolved.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York says he is preparing to introduce legislation which would withhold US foreign assistance to countries who have unpaid parking tickets.