South Africa: Nzo Reiterates Pretoria's Support For Palestine

26 November 1998
Panafrican News Agency (Dakar)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (PANA) — South African foreign minister Alfred Nzo has called for the rapid implementation of the recent Wye River Memorandum, especially the Israeli undertaking to release Palestinian prisoners as a confidence-building measure.

He also reiterated South Africa's strongly-held belief that negotiations are the only alternative in the search for peace in the Middle East. Nzo was meeting As'ad Abdul Rahman, a special envoy of PLO leader Yasser Arafat in Pretoria Wednesday.

The foreign minister said South Africa supported the continuing efforts of the Palestinian people to achieve their right to self-determination and national independence.

"We remain convinced that the only means of ending conflict and bringing peace and security to Palestine, Israel and the region, is through negotiations and the faithful implementation of agreements reached so far," he stressed.

Nzo said South Africans understand the suffering of the Palestinian people who still face humiliation and economic hardship.

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