SOUTH African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad on Saturday flew to the Middle East for a five-nation tour aimed at cementing ties with Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Pahad will first travel to Kuwait where he will join South African Defence Minister Patrick Lekota and Kuwaiti officials in discussions before meeting his Kuwaiti counterpart. They are to sign a draft memorandum of understanding on bilateral affairs. Pahad will then lead a delegation of government officials and businessmen to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, to secure contracts in the United Nation’s oil-for-food programme with Iraq.