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Non-Aligned Movement Committee on Palestine to Meet in S. Africa
Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement's (NAM) committee on Palestine are to meet in Pretoria on Thursday to discuss peace efforts in the Middle East.
"The meeting will deliberate on how best NAM can contribute to the cessation of the violence in the Middle East region," South African Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria on Monday.
Ways to promote dialogue among the parties in the conflict would also be discussed, Pahad added.
The deputy minister said the meeting is vital in view of what he described as the failure of the United Nations Security Council to take action on behalf of Palestinian civilians affected by the conflict.
"We think the consultations will emerge with a way of finding a breakthrough in the impasse we are confronted with at the moment. We look forward to something coming out of this meeting," he said.
The ministerial-level conference was called by South African Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in her capacity as chairwoman of NAM, which was set up in 1983 and comprises representatives of Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Palestine, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and three of his ministers will attend the meeting. Another ten ministers, three deputy ministers and a number of senior officials will represent their respective governments.
Also invited to this week's meeting are the foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt, and NAM members on the United Nations Security Council -- Columbia, Jamaica, Mali, Mauritius, Singapore and Tunisia.
Others asked to attend are representatives of the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and of the UN committee dealing with Palestine.
Israel has not been invited as it is not a member of NAM, but " we are in consultations with all sides", Pahad said, noting Arafat is scheduled to meet President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday.
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