South African President Thabo Mbeki was due to meet US President Bill Clinton on Monday to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe, the AIDS epidemic, debt relief and other issues as he begins his first official state visit to the United States since he took over from Nelson Mandela last May, media reports said.
South Africa’s foreign debt - estimated at US $23.6 billion, or 17.7 percent of its gross national product - is expected to be high on the agenda when the two leaders meet. The two leaders will also brainstorm on stemming the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki will also meet with Al Gore, the US vice-president and Democratic party candidate in the November presidential elections. Mbeki will later meet Gore’s Republican rival governor George W. Bush of Texas.
On Tuesday, Mbeki will meet with the Senate foreign relations committee before embarking on a tour of the United States that will take him to San Francisco, California, Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article