/ 20 May 2000

UK TO FUND SCORPIONS’ TRAINING

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki, in London to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis, discussed bilateral ties with Prime Minister Tony Blair and won a pledge from Blair for the training of an elite South African police unit. The 500000 programme will train 100 officers from the Scorpions investigation unit set up by Mbeki last year to help combat spiralling organised crime in South Africa. Other topics broached during an afternoon of talks at Downing Street were the situation in Sierra Leone, and the Northern Ireland peace process in which former South African politician Cyril Ramaphosa is to play a key role monitoring IRA weapons depots.