{"id":207151,"date":"2006-03-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T19:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=207151"},"modified":"2019-03-12T19:19:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T19:19:30","slug":"auto-insert-207151","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-207151\/","title":{"rendered":"President Thabo Mbeki to host Palestinian Counterpart President Mahmoud Abbas – South Africa Dept of For. Affairs press release\/Non-UN document"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Thabo Mbeki to host Palestinian Counterpart President Mahmoud Abbas<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Tshwane – South African President Thabo Mbeki will host his Palestinian counterpart President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) for bilateral political and economic discussions at Tuynhuys, Cape Town on Friday 31 March 2006.<\/p><\/div>\n

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President Abbas will, on the invitation of President Mbeki, pay a State Visit to South Africa scheduled from Thursday – Saturday, 30 March – 1 April 2006.<\/p><\/div>\n

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President Abbas's State Visit to South Africa comes within the context of South Africa's priority to promote the peaceful resolution of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction and development in the Middle East, through amongst others, continued dialogue with both the Israelis and Palestinians.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In this regard President Mbeki, on conclusion of the historic Palestinian elections in January this year said, "the people of Palestine have elected Abu Mazen, leader of the PLO, as their President. They have elected Hamas as their majority legislative representatives. Democratically they have constituted the legitimate authorities that must lead them in their continuing quest for an independent state of Palestine, democracy and development."<\/p><\/div>\n

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"We who promote democracy can not afford to challenge the consequences of a democratic process. We must take appropriate measures to create the conditions and climate to bring about the peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis."<\/p><\/div>\n

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"As before, the South Africa government and people will continue to work with the government and people of Palestine to contribute to their efforts to find a peaceful solution." <\/p><\/div>\n

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Issues on the agenda of discussions between Presidents Mbeki and Abbas are therefore expected to include, among others:<\/p><\/div>\n