New foreign minister visits South Africa

South Africa said on Monday it would do everything it could to help tighten the UN sanctions imposed on the Angolan rebel movement, UNITA. The announcement by a foreign ministry spokesman was made as Angola's new foreign minister, Joao Miranda, arrived in South Africa to discuss the sanctions issue. "South Africa is firmly on the record in support of UN sanctions against UNITA and we will look at ways this can be tightened. We will be looking a strategy with Mr Miranda of isolating UNITA because of its consistent breach of the (UN-brokered) Lusaka Protocol peace accords," said the spokesman, Marco Boni, told IRIN. He said the South African government had also offered to assist Robert Fowler, the chairman of the UN sanctions committee, who is currently on a regional tour aimed at tightening the sanctions. Fowler is due to contact South African companies, including the diamond mining and marketing giant, De Beers. "Obviously there is concern about the diamond trade which sustains the whole UNITA operation. We have to tighten up in that regard," the spokesman said.