/ 29 March 2000

ZUMA BACK IN SA

FOREIGN Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma left Tokyo to return to South Africa on Tuesday after completing a two-day trip to Japan where she urged Japanese politicians, leaders and businesses to write off foreign debt. While in Tokyo, she met with her Japanese counterpart Yohei Kono, and asked him to consider that South Africa and Algeria be invited to the G8 summit, to be held in Japan in July, to discuss African debt relief. The other members of the Group of Eight are Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Russia and the United States. However, Japan has not yet signalled that it will consider inviting the two countries.

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