Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
Minister Alfred Nzo will lead a SADC Ministerial delegation to Addis Ababa, Luanda and Kinshasa in an effort to implement the decisions reached by the SADC Summit meeting held in Pretoria on 23 august 1998.
The delegation, which departs from Pretoria today, will include the following Ministers: Defence Minister Joe Modise, Mozambican Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete and Zambian Foreign Minister Keli Walubita. The delegation will travel to Addis Ababa on the first leg of the visit, to hold discussions with Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary General of the OAU. Dr Salim will then join the delegation on the Luanda and Kinshasa legs where they plan to meet with Presidents Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and Laurent Kabila.
Minister Nzo said that the delegation will "seek to implement the decisions of the Summit, and in particular to ensure that the belligerents respect the call for an immediate cease-fire". This, he added, was essential if a negotiated settlement was to be reached in the DRC.
Minister Nzo further indicated that he had been encouraged by assurances given to him today by Dr Bizima Karaha that the rebels had respected the weekend SADC Summit call for a troop standstill.
This SADC initiative is consistent with similar recent bilateral visits to the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda by Ministers Nzo and Modise, in an effort to bring peace to the region.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 25 AUGUST 1998