President Thabo Mbeki has pledged South African support and commitment to the fragile Middle East peace process, backing a proposal to deploy UN observers and asking for "reassurance" for Palestinians.
Speaking in Doha, where he is attending a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in his role as current head of the Non-Aligned Movement, Mbeki told SABC-TV late Monday that sending a UN buffer force could be "very important".
"We need to arrive at a just and stable peace, we need to address the interests of the Palestinian people," Mbeki said, a day after private talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
He stressed that South African officials were also in constant contact with Israeli authorities over violence that has been raging in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for almost seven weeks.
"These are matters that we engage with them all the time," Mbeki said.
"It's important to find a way to end this conflict, to ensure that Israeli forces pull out of these Palestinian areas and that there must be some reassurance given to the Palestinians that this thing is not going to recur," he added.
"The matter has been raised of the possibility of some observer force of the UN that would be able to act as a barrier" between Israelis and Palestinians, Mbeki added. "It's very important."
Israeli Foreign Minister Nawaf Massalha, visiting Pretoria last Thursday, asked South Africa to help to settle the conflict, but "not to encourage one side or the other".
He said he also believed that calling in former president Nelson Mandela to mediate could help bring about a solution, telling reporters: "We continue to respect the leadership of South Africa and Mr. Mandela."
South African officials have stated that intervention by Mandela, 82, is not on the cards. He still keeps to a grueling schedule as an international statesman and has a series of engagements, but last week had to call off an upcoming trip to Jordan after a bad bout of flu.
Masalha, the first Arab Muslim to serve in the Israeli government, said that while the outlook was not promising, peace talks had to continue. The talks could take place anywhere, he said, maybe even "in Pretoria." – JOHANNESBURG (AFP)
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