RIYADH, 28 January 2003 — South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad will arrive here today on a two-day visit to the Kingdom as the representative of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the African Union. South Africa is the current chairman of both organizations.
South Africa’s Ambassador Abdulhamied Gabier told Arab News that Pahad, who will also visit Qatar and Yemen, will discuss with senior government officials in Riyadh the standoff in Iraq over alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Pahad, who will arrive here from Bahrain, will be accompanied by Yousuf Salugee, who is in-charge of the Middle East Desk at the Foreign Office, and Parry Moolman, deputy director in charge of the Gulf Desk.
The ambassador said South Africa’s position has been consistent with its constitution in opposing the use of force for settlement of conflicts.
"We are in favor of a negotiated settlement. We have proposed to the UN that an open debate should take place before taking any unilateral decision on the use of force to disarm Iraq," said Ambassador Gabier, who is concurrently accredited to Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen.
Referring to the situation in Palestine, he said his country has backed the Saudi peace initiative, which advocates normalization of ties with Israel after it complies with all UN Security Council resolutions.
