Mandela-Thaksin meeting confirmed

2010-09-02 15:05

News24 and AP

Cape Town - The Nelson Mandela Foundation on Thursday confirmed that fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was with Nelson Mandela last Friday.

"He did see Mr Mandela," the foundation's spokesperson Sello Hatang told News24.

"It was a courtesy call, no business was discussed," he said.

According to a newspaper interview, Thaksin was also "in Africa for diamond mining".

The Associated Press reported earlier that a photo of the former prime minister meeting with Mandela was released in Thailand by Thaksin's lawyer in a move to disprove rumours that the ex-prime minister was ill and also to advertise that he was rubbing shoulders with VIPs while abroad.

It has been reported that Thaksin has visited South Africa previously to inspect diamond mines and travelled to Liberia, Uganda and Swaziland for investments in diamonds and gold.

The tycoon-turned-politician was ousted in a military coup in 2006. In May this year a Thai court ordered an arrest warrant for him on terrorism charges, accusing the fugitive leader of fomenting two months of unrest in Bangkok that left 88 people dead.

Thaksin, who remains popular among Thailand's rural poor, was initially convicted on conflict of interest charges in 2008 and fled Thailand.

- News24