/ 19 May 1999

MBEKI CONGRATULATES BARAK

DEPUTY President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday congratulated the Israeli Labour Party leader Ehud Barak on his election as Israeli Premier. Barak replaces Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party. Mbeki said he believed the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians would now move rapidly forward in a spirit consistent with the principles for which former Premier Yitzhak Rabin laid down his life.