HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Xinhua
Peoples Republic of
China
S. Africa, Russia Call for
Greater UN Role in Combating Terrorism
JOHANNESBURG, December 15 (Xinhua) -- South
Africa and Russia
on Saturday called for strengthening of the role of the United Nations in fighting against terrorism. "The sides expressed the need for a comprehensive approach towards the eradication of international terrorism that should involve the whole range of political, economic, financial and humanitarian measures," said a statement issued after a meeting between South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Pretoria. The two countries intended to expedite the finalization and adoption by the U.N. of the Comprehensive Counter-Terrorism Convention and the Convention for the Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism, said the statement. "The South African side reiterated its support for the right of the Russian Federation to preserve its territorial integrity and to safeguard its citizens from terrorist attacks, including the Chechen Republic," the statement said. The Russian side expressed its fundamental support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), the statement noted, saying "(Russia) reaffirmed its readiness to continue the efforts within the G8 states to ensure its practical implementation." At a news conference after the meeting, Ivanov said: "Africa and Africa's problems should not be considered as something secondary. They should be a priority on the national agenda." He pledged that Russia would continue to cooperate with its African partners. The Russia top diplomat said his visit to Africa had convinced him of the possibilities that existed for relations, both in terms of trade and in the form of joint activities on the international arena. On the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the statement said: "The sides agreed on the urgent need to consolidate and coordinate the attempts aimed at the soonest normalization of the situation in the Middle East." It called for further
steps towards a comprehensive settlement
based on the Madrid principles (with "land for peace" as basis), particularly Resolutions 242 and 338 of the UN Security Council and previous bilateral agreements. "(This) should allow the Palestinians to have their own state, as well as... provide reliable security for Israel," the statement said. As far as the problem of Iraq was concerned, the two sides said it should be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic solutions. "The sides are convinced that the practical way out of the current situation could be found in resuming the constructive dialogue between Iraq and the U.N. secretary-general in order to achieve an urgent settlement around Iraq on the basis of the U.N. Security Council resolutions," it said. The two ministers initiated a draft Treaty of Friendship and Partnership to be signed by Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Vladimir Putin during the latter's upcoming state visit. Ivanov said his visit to South Africa was partially intended to prepare for Putin's visit, the date of which has not been announced. Ivanov arrived in South Africa earlier on Saturday on a visit that had also taken him to Angola and Namibia. Enditem
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