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Pres ident Thabo Mbeki jetted off to Britain this morning where he is expected to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair on the global political situation.

According to the Department Foreign Affairs (DFA), issues to be discussed include the situation in the Middle East and Iraq.

Tensions have been simmering over the issue of weapons inspections in Iraq, following the United States’ (US) and Britain’s intentions to unilaterally attack the oil-rich Gulf country if it did not disarm.

During his State of the Union address early this week, US President George W. Bush told Americans to brace themselves for an imminent military assault on Iraq.

This is despite strong anti-war sentiments by the international community, including several permanent UN Security Council members such as France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as the developing nations, including South Africa.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix told the UN Security Council this week that Iraq was not fully co-operative, while Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that his team would need more time to further conduct its work.

Mr Blix also dismissed a 12 000-page declaration made by Baghdad to the UN on its weapons programme and said there were signs that Iraq still had anthrax stocks.

South Africa has repeatedly advised that members of the international community ought to act within the mandate of the UN and its Security Council.

During the visit, President Mbeki is also expected to brief Prime Minister Blair on the political situation in the continent.

‘President Mbeki, in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union (AU), will brief Prime Minister Blair about the geo-political situation on the continent, including peace and stability efforts,’ DFA said.

These would include the recent breakthroughs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and the Ivory Coast. -BuaNews

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