/ 29 June 2004

Scores protest at Palestinian meeting

About 200 people took part in a demonstration outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre where a United Nations meeting on the Palestinian crisis was being held on Tuesday.

The members of the Cape Town Anti-War Coalition protested against the meeting being held under the auspices of the UN, which it claims is a puppet of Western governments such as the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

The peaceful demonstration was held on a traffic island in Adderley Street adjoining the convention centre amid tight security.

Earlier on Tuesday the opening of the UN African Meeting in Support of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was addressed by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

A message from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was read to the meeting by the commissioner general of the UN’s Relief and Works Agency. In his message Annan called on the Palestinians and Israel to fulfil their obligations under international law and the road map to which they had agreed.

He expressed the hope that the meeting will generate fresh ideas aimed at resolving the conflict between the two.

Mbeki called for the meeting to work towards a resolution that could be discussed at next week’s African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

He said Africa needs to include the Palestinian question as part of its own agenda for resolving conflict on the continent.

The meeting continues on Wednesday. — Sapa