Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas arrives in South Africa on Thursday for talks with President Thabo Mbeki following elections that have shaken up the political landscape in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The new Kadima party of Ehud Olmert won elections in Israel on Tuesday, trouncing the right-wing Likud party, while the radical Palestinian Hamas movement scored an election upset in January when it won by a landslide.
“We believe that the elections both in Palestine and Israel offer a historic moment for the two peoples to really take a new approach to finding a peaceful solution,” South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said on Wednesday.
“Both leaderships now have a historic responsibility to move forward to finding a peaceful solution,” Pahad was quoted as saying by the domestic Sapa news agency.
“We hope that no party will take action that can set us back and that we can advance towards finding a solution.”
Abbas will be making a state visit to South Africa, meeting with Mbeki in Cape Town on Friday for talks that will allow the South African president to refresh his Middle East policy.
Under Mbeki, the governing African National Congress has opened up to Likud while maintaining its strong support for an independent Palestinian state.
Abbas, who will be making his first visit to South Africa since he was elected president of the Palestinian Authority, is also to address Parliament in Cape Town on Friday and meet with Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Saturday, a foreign ministry statement said.
Mbeki’s government last month said the ANC — which has longstanding ties with the Palestine Liberation Organisation — had invited leaders of Hamas for talks in South Africa, although no date has been set for those meetings.
Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, is not a member of the PLO umbrella group, unlike Abbas’ Fatah party.
South Africa opposes sanctions against Hamas but maintains that there is no option for its elected representatives but to engage in the peace process with Israel.
“Hamas has a responsibility to implement the outcomes of the Oslo process, as well as United Nations resolutions,” Pahad said. – AFP