Notes following Press Briefing by Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad on Conclusion of Visit to the Middle East, Media Centre, Union Buildings, Friday, 3 September 2004

Introductory remarks and welcome by Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad

• Our visit to the Middle East dealt with matters of a bilateral and multilateral nature.
• Mainly we dealt with matters relating to economic relations between our respective countries - economic diplomacy is the order of the day since we believe that the available opportunities are not being sufficiently exploited by the South African business sector. There is much potential to be exploited between Africa and the Middle East and we would want to encourage the private sectors on both sides to explore these opportunities.
• As you know, the Director-General, Dr. Ayanda Ntsaluba and two other officials visited Israel and Palestine, whilst I and two other officials visited Iran.
• In Syria, Jordan and Egypt we had extensive discussions - we met with Ministers, Deputy Ministers, business representatives and South Africans in the Diaspora.
• We, off course, had extensive discussions on the challenges of Africa.
• We discussed the restructuring of the United Nations and all its institutions - the Security Council, the General Assembly, IMF, World Bank.
• There was general consensus that we are at one on the matter of working bilaterally and through all available multilateral fora to achieve the transformation of the United Nations.
• We exchanged ideas regarding the major UNGA Summit to be held in 2005 to review progress on the implementation of the Millenium Development Goals.
• We also discussed some of the African challenges including Sudan and more specifically the situation in Darfur.
• We took the following decisions:
• Business delegations from each country would come to South Africa to explore possibilities and we would then encourage South African delegations to travel abroad.
• Our Ministers will meet on the fringes of the forthcoming UNGA 59.
• We would co-operate in terms of conflict resolution and even form tripartite alliances.
• It is the general view that South Africa plays an important role in the region, continent and globally.
• Off course, you could not visit the region without discussing the two major conflicts in the region - the developments in Iraq and the Palestinian issue.
• Iraq - we received extensive briefings regarding the situation - one thing was very apparent - all sides are committed to achieving the normalisation of the situation and convinced that full sovereignty - political and economic must be returned to the people of Iraq. The levels of violence need to be adressed.
• The Palestinian issue - in Egypt we met with the Minister of Intelligence and his Deputy who are very involved in the process. The general view is that we must remain committed to finding a solution based on the UN resolutions - it is also widely accepted that there can be no military solution to the current crisis - it must be a political one. We agreed to co-operate on how to improve the situation.
  • We also feel that the ICJ ruling was a good one - the construction of the separation wall will effectively put an end to the two-state solution.
• Next week, as part of South Africa's efforts to engage with all role-players, we will host a delegation from the Likud Party (7-8 September in Pretoria). There will be two days of discussion during which we will attempt to gain an understanding of the current situation. We will also share the South African experience in surmounting an almost insurmountable situation and see if there is any relevance in our experience to that in the Middle East.
• We believe that our visit was very successful - we brought the African message to the countries we visited and they are all committed to working together regarding NEPAD.
• We hope our visit has opened up possibilities of increased visits at ministerial levels and private sector exploitation. We are very satisfied that we can contribute to the economic development of Africa.

Questions and Answers

Question : Deputy Minister, do you have any update on the South African man arrested yesterday regarding the alleged export of nuclear components to Pakistan?

Answer : (Mr Pahad) As you are aware:

• the South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction has primary responsibility for the implementation of the Non-Proliferation of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.
• The Government will continue to co-operate with this Council in respect of all cases.
• As you know, South Africa, has since 1994, had a strict policy of disarmament, we are signatories to many of the major international conventions and protocols in this regard - we have been one of the strongest proponents for international and continental nuclear free zones. We also believe that countries with nuclear capabilities should begin dismantling them.
• It is vital that South Africans should not be involved in any such activities.
• We are also co-operating in international fora regarding this issue of nuclear dismantling - eg. the IAEA.
• In addition to the South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the NCACC also tries to ensure compliance with all the protocols to which SA is a signatory.
• We can also say that indeed an arrest has been made but in the South African democracy, we should presume the innocence of the detainee until proven otherwise.

Question : Deputy Minister, are you saying there will be no more arrests? Is this a single individual or was he operating within a network?

Answer : (Mr Pahad) A single individual has been arrested. Today's media reports are saying that there will be a hearing today - even the agencies with whom we are co-operating are doing so within the framework that this matter is sub-judice.

Question : When will the Likud Party visit take place - who is in the delegation?

Answer : (Mr Pahad) The meetings will be held on Tuesday, 7 - Wednesday, 8 September 2004. The Likud Party delegation will be lead by their Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Michael Ratzon, the Chair of the Constitutional Committee, Michael Eitan and 8 other senior members:

• Mr Ayoab Kara - member of the Finance Committee;
• Mr Yuli Edelstein - Member of the Central Committee;
• Mr Arik Barami - Director-Genarl of the Likud Party;
• Adv Karmel Shma - Member of the Central Committee ;
• Mr Arik Maimon - Member of the Central Committee ;
• Mr Eitan Sulami - Likud member and campaign manager;
• Ms Sima Navon - Member of the Central Committee;
• Adv Oranit Tsur- Litan: Advisor to Mr Ratzon.

The South African side will be represented by Ministers, Deputy Ministers, former ministers, members of the National Party who were involved in negotiations leading to our democratisation and members of the security aparatus.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION WITH DIRECTOR-GENERAL-NTSALUBA

Question : What were the general views of the Arab countries regarding the situation in Darfur?

Answer : (DG) All our discussions - especially in Egypt which has a particular interests in this matter - illustrated that the following would be supported:

1. African Union (AU) decisions which were taken at the Summit in July should constitute the framework within which to work to resolve this matter;
2. Our visit coincided with discussions in Abuja under the auspices of the AU and it was agreed that these decisions and outcomes should be supported;
3. Actions that would inflame the current situation should be avoided. It was the shared view that the situation in Darfur is indeed a difficult one and that all sides should support current initiatives underway to resolve the situation; and
4. Finally it was agreed that while the situation in Darfur is of great concern to us all, this should not detract from current negotiations between the North and the South.

Question : DG, you said the current situation should not be inflamed - could you please elaborate in this regard?

Answer : (DG) The position of the AU is critical - the UN has passed a resolution giving Sudan 30 days within which to address certain conditions in order to alleviate the situation in Darfur. In this regard, we would not want a situation where the government of Sudan is placed in a very difficult position at the end of this deadline. We continue to look for ways within which to engage the government of Sudan.

Concluding remarks on the situation in Russia and the Middle East by Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad

Let me say the following, the position of the South African government on acts of terrorism is very consistent and clear - in this regard we condemn the current hostage taking situation in Russia. This situation is unacceptable.

Secondly, we have condemned the suicide bombings earlier this week in which 16 people died and many others were injured. These actions cannot be justified in terms of the Palestinian cause. We continue calling for a broader political solution in the interests of both the Israelis and Palestinians to avoid the retaliatory actions that have been set on course.

Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs
P/Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

3 September 2004.