Issued by: The Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE KILLING OF IRANIAN NATIONALS BY THE TELEBAN IN AFGHANISTAN
The South African Government strongly condemns the killing of at least nine Iranian nationals, including diplomats and a journalist of the official Iranian News Agency, by Taleban forces in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The killing of diplomats is seen as an unacceptable breach of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and trusts that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. The South African Government supports calls for a thorough investigation of these tragic events.
Recent confirmation by the United Nations and other international agencies of the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Mazar-i-Sharif is similarly condemned in the strongest sense.
The South African Government calls on all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to cease hostilities, exercise restraint, observe internationally accepted norms of human rights and pursue a solution to the conflict through peaceful means and dialogue.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 19 SEPTEMBER 1998