Arafat: Mbeki to attend funeral

2004-11-11 09:25

Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki will attend the funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Cairo on Friday.

This was confirmed by Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in a statement on Thursday.

She said Mbeki joined the international community in expressing sorrow at the death of Arafat.

He died on Thursday morning at the age of 75 in a French military hospital outside Paris, where he had reportedly been comatose for over a week.

Mbeki said: "It is indeed difficult to accept that the greatest leader of the Palestinian people Yasser Arafat, with whom we have shared so many trials and tribulations, has ceased to lead."

History would show Arafat epitomised a breed of leaders whose lives were defined by sacrifices they made in the struggle of their peoples, Mbeki said.

Despite hardship and suffering, such leaders drew inspiration from the knowledge that their struggle for freedom offers the only hope out of the darkest times.

"History will record that he (Arafat) gave hope to millions of the downtrodden and despised, by instilling in them the knowledge and consciousness that despite current difficulties, they hold the gift of freedom in their hands," Mbeki said.

"It is this legacy that President Arafat has bestowed upon millions of Palestinians that will continue to inspire his people to forge ahead with the struggle to establish a sovereign independent Palestinian state co-existing peacefully side by side with an Israeli state."

Mbeki said the government and people of South Africa would continue to help find a lasting solution in the Middle East.

Mbeki said South Africa was convinced the Palestinian National Authority would continue the legacy Arafat bestowed upon them in the quest for freedom, peace and justice.

Details of Mbeki's travel plans were not immediately known.

- SAPA