South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Sunday, her department said in a statement.
Dlamini-Zuma and a delegation of foreign ministers from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) met Arafat, and he briefed them on the latest developments in the Middle East.
”The NAM delegation reiterated the movement’s outrage at the intensification of the illegal Israeli occupation, the killing, vast destruction, the economic strangulation … against Palestine and its people,” the statement said.
The delegation, which Dlamini-Zuma led in her capacity as NAM chairwoman, expressed its support for all international efforts aimed at achieving a lasting solution.
”In this context, the movement unequivocally affirmed its support for the Arab peace initiative and the effort of the Quartet.”
The delegation noted that these efforts by the international community should form the basis of a conference aimed at the establishment of a road map for the attainment of peace in the Middle East.
”The NAM delegation wished President Arafat and people of Palestine success in their endeavours to find peace to this long-standing conflict.”
The NAM delegation comprised foreign ministers from several countries including Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.
The one-day Palestinian visit follows a resolution taken at the NAM Ministerial Meeting held in Durban on April 27, 2002. It adopted a declaration to send a delegation to Palestine to meet Arafat, in an expression of solidarity with the people of Palestine, the statement said.
While in the Middle East, Dlamini-Zuma will also meet Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb and King Abdullah. – Sapa