Foreign minister meets US Secretary of State

South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and US Secretary of State Colin Powell began “a comprehensive review” of US- South African relations on Wednesday, AP reported. The bilateral talks were the first since George W Bush was sworn in as president in January. Their discussion - and an earlier meeting on Wednesday with national security advisor Condoleeza Rice - focused on reaching mutual understanding and agreement on areas of mutual interest. They also discussed the Millennium Africa Recovery Plan and regional conflicts in Africa.

Although little that was concrete emerged from the two separate half-hour dialogues Dlamini-Zuma held with Powell and Rice, a South African spokesperson was quoted as saying that “the work” of a special binational commission established in 1995 “will still continue.” But, because a review of such commissions was one of the first things ordered by Powell when he took office, whether the commission would continue to exist was uncertain, the report said. The South African government felt strongly that the commission was an important part of the US-South African relationship was credited with helping to foster the close trade and investment ties between the two countries, it added.