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/ 17 January 2005

SA to lay business foundations in the Middle East

South African businessmen aim to create a ”beachhead of influence” in the Middle East during a three day black economic empowerment visit to Israel next week. An initiative of South Africa’s Ambassador to Israel Fumanekile Gqiba and supported by the South African Israel Chamber of Commerce, the visit followed that of an Israeli delegation to South Africa last year.

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/ 17 January 2005

Shaik ‘like mosquito around your ankle’

Legal teams on both sides of the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial are back at work, although the case only resumes in court on January 31. A confident Shaik said compared to the tsunami, conflict in Iraq and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, ”mine is not a problem, just a slight irritation … like a mosquito around your ankle”.

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/ 17 January 2005

No leave, no pay for 17 years

A French cook who worked for no pay and no vacation for 17 years has won a case against his former employers after producing evidence of his exploitation that had lawyers shaking their heads in disbelief. A labour tribunal has awarded Philippe Pitiot €70 742 (about R558 000) in back pay for the past five years.

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/ 17 January 2005

Let the MDC meet, says ANC

If Zimbabwe’s elections are to be declared free and fair, the opposition Movement for Democratic should be allowed to hold public meetings, African National Congress secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said on Monday. He was addressing the media after the ANC’s national executive committee meeting at the weekend.

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/ 17 January 2005

Zuma to discuss Burundi peace process in Uganda

South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma was due to arrive in Uganda late on Monday for talks with officials on Burundi’s fragile peace process, Uganda’s foreign ministry said. Among others, Zuma, the chief mediator in the process, is to meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who now serves as chairperson of a regional peace initiative for Burundi.

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/ 17 January 2005

Sudan, opposition ink deal in Cairo

The Sudanese government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an umbrella grouping of opposition groups, signed a political agreement in Cairo ahead of sealing a final deal, diplomats said on Monday. The talks leading up to the agreement with the country’s largest exiled political bloc were held under the auspices of Egypt.

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/ 17 January 2005

Special forces ‘on the ground’ in Iran

United States special forces have been on the ground inside Iran scouting for US air strike targets for suspected nuclear weapons sites, according to the renowned US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. ”The last thing this government wants to do is to bomb or strafe, or missile attack, the wrong targets again. We don’t want another WMD flap. We want to be sure we have the right information.”

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/ 17 January 2005

SA business owners very optimistic

South African business owners are the second most optimistic among their peers internationally, the first results from the 2005 Grant Thornton International Business Owners Survey released on Monday reveal. Proudly at number two, South Africa beat countries such as Ireland, Australia and Canada