Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo today expressed his satisfaction that Minister Sydney Mufamadi and his SADC negotiating team, which included the Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Jackie Selebi, had successfully secured an agreement between the Government and opposition parties in Lesotho. The agreement, which calls on both parties to set up a structure to facilitate the holding of fresh elections, was negotiated in a constructive and positive spirit.
Minister Nzo paid tribute to the responsible manner in which all the parties had committed themselves to placing the interests of the people of Lesotho above their own. "The spirit of compromise by the Lesotho Government and opposition alliance needs to be commended and encouraged. This now opens the way for the vital process of reconstruction to start", Minister Nzo said.
Minister Nzo welcomed the statement by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, in which he committed UN assistance to the process of transition, and the Minister also called on the international community to complement these reconstruction efforts.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 15 OCTOBER 1998