Briefing by Department on the Middle East

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
31 July 2002
BRIEFING BY DEPARTMENT ON MIDDLE EAST

Chairperson: Mr P Jordan (ANC)

Documents handed out:
PowerPoint Presentation by Department of Foreign Affairs (see Appendix 2 for outline)

Relevant documents
Mail and Guardian article: "Pretoria apologises to save face with Tehran", 2 August 2002 (Appendix 1)

SUMMARY
Prior to 1994, South Africa had only one mission in the Middle East, based in Israel. However by the end of 2002 the number will have increased to missions in eleven countries. Trade with the Gulf States will exceed R30 billion in total. The Department's policy towards the Middle East was based on input received from a Cabinet lekgotla, which had formulated a business plan. Objectives coming out of the lekgotla had been reviewed and new objectives had been derived, including the promotion of Nepad, trade and tourism and support for the peace process.

MINUTES
Mr Sithole (ANC), acting as chairperson in the absence of Mr Jordan, introduced Mr J Sunde, Acting Chief Director for the Middle East, and Ms Roshan Dadoo: Department of Foreign Affairs.

Briefing by Department of Foreign Affairs
Mr Sunde clarified that the Middle East, for the Department of Foreign Affairs, excluded North Africa. The Middle East is a politically volatile area governed by primarily un-elected rulers. The perception of the west is that of an "Islamic threat", especially in the context of September 11^th. Subsequently, there has been pressure by the West for the Middle East to join the so-called "war on terror". South Africa's fuel supplies would be affected by a disruption in the area, since a large amount of our fuel comes from the region.

Prior to 1994, South Africa had only one mission in the Middle East, based in Israel, however by the end of 2002 the number will have increased to missions in eleven countries and trade with the Gulf States will exceed R30 billion in total. The Department's policy towards the Middle East was based on input received from a Cabinet lekgotla, which had formulated a business plan. Objectives coming out of the lekgotla had been reviewed and new objectives had been derived, including the promotion of Nepad, trade and tourism and support for the peace process.

Directorate: Levant
Ms Dadoo continued the presentation with an overview of the Directorate of the Levant, which includes Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Palestine and Syria within its scope. The current focus is on the Middle East peace process and the "war on terror". The Department had developed a clear policy on the issue. In terms of the policy, it was believed that there could be no military solution to the conflict and that there ought to be a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement. The need for assistance to Palestinians was highlighted as a humanitarian crisis had developed since Israeli reoccupation. Money was currently being given to the Palestinian embassy in order to enable them to operate an embassy in South Africa.

In addition, R4 million had been donated via the Palestinian embassy for medical supplies and to assist civil society organisations to deliver medical aid. Minister Zuma had led a NAM delegation to visit President Arafat but her visit was done purely in her position as NAM representative and was not a South African mandate. Deputy Minister Pahad had also recently visited both Israel and Palestine.

It is believed that, given its history, South Africa has a unique role to play in terms of sharing its knowledge and experience of the peace process. Moreover, unlike other countries and organisations, South Africa has maintained credibility in the region. South African civil society is also very engaged in the issue. The Department intended to work with civil society as much as possible as it was felt to be the responsibility of government to do so. There were several undertakings that could be done by the Department and civil society jointly.

One of the issues raised within the Department was that of good governance, and was something that the Palestinians were also trying to achieve. The Palestinians have developed a 100-day Plan for holding free and fair elections and have indicated that they would like some direction in the area. This was one area in which South Africa could assist, while another was in terms of Constitution writing.

Concerning the "war on terror" and Iraq and the UN sanctions regime, the question was not if, but when, the US would attack Iraq. South Africa did not consider imposing sanctions from the outside as a means of promoting good governance. On the issue of weapons inspections, Iraq was currently holding discussions with the UN. However, it was not believed that an air strike or assassination was the best way to improve the situation.

Iraq's Deputy President had been invited by South Africa's Deputy President to visit the country, as it was hoped that South Africa could play an economic role in the area. A project in this regard was currently being considered by Eskom.

On the issue of bi-lateral relations, South Africa's longest bi-lateral relations in the region were with Israel. In Jordan, South Africa has an embassy in Amman and relations with that country were very good however, stability in the region was a problem.

There was an increasing amount of terrorism between Israel and South Africa and the embassies were keen to promote tourism. A lot of trade was taking place between Israel and South Africa. Israel is South Africa's fifth biggest trade partner, with commodities including diamonds and coal. South Africa would also like to extend bi-lateral relations with Palestine; unfortunately Palestine has never been able to achieve sovereign status so bi-lateral relations in the traditional sense could not be talked of. South Africa was planning on opening an embassy the following year in Syria. Syria and Lebanon were believed to have great potential with regard to expanding economic activity. South Africa does in fact have a strong Lebanese community.

Mr Sunde continued that while Israel was South Africa's largest trading partner in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran were also partners. South Africa's trade with these countries last year amounted to R16 billion, R9 billion and R2 billion respectively. The Department of Trade and Industry had however, closed all its offices in the area. The only major investments in South Africa not originating from Israel were Cell-C and some construction investments from Kuwait. The Gulf area was considered a rich area for South Africa with regard to the sales of military equipment. Countries in the area were hoping to be better able to defend themselves since the Gulf War in 1991. Denel and other companies were beginning to reap the benefits of agreements in that respect.

Tourism was also on the increase since people from that area were now less welcome in the US and UK. However, Australia and New Zealand were "beating" South Africa in this area. Missions in the region were instructed to reinforce tourism and South African Airways was being encouraged to restart flights to the region. One of the challenges that needed to be addressed was the misconception of crime being a major problem in South Africa as well as the suspicion regarding trade unions, which did not exist in the Middle East.

Challenges also concerned how to stop the talk of Afro-Arab co-operation and turn it into something tangible. In Dubai, 30 major South African countries were operating, including Murray and Roberts who had recently completed construction of an airport in Dubai built with South African steel. Standard Bank was also active in the region and Sasol had also just signed a US$805 million agreement.

A new mission was being opened in Doha. Saudi Arabia had been deemed by the President to be a strategic partner for South Africa. It was important because it was home to two of the holiest sites in the Islamic world. A problem had been experienced after September 11 when it had been discovered that fifteen out of the nineteen terrorists involved in the attacks had come from Saudi Arabia. A South African ambassador had not been placed in Saudi Arabia for the previous two years but one would be appointed soon. The Saudi's had devised a peace plan for the Middle East at the Arab League Summit, which had united the Arab world on the issue. This was considered an area in which South Africa needed to capitalise on as its profile in the area increases.

Bahrain had just changed its Constitution and become a kingdom and the Qatari's are following suit. The Kuwaiti's do have elections but women do not yet have the vote. Oman was quietly beginning to democratise.

In the last year, the US has begun to buy less oil from the Middle East and was attaching less importance to commercial and military sales in the area. However, countries like Japan were totally dependent on oil from the Middle East and would suffer should there be problems in the area.

South Africa's relationship with Iran was problematic. Iran has a population of 70 million people - primarily made up of young people - making it a "demographic time bomb". Iran is a huge market and one that South Africa is trying to get into. The main product exported is sugar, and the Iranians would also like wheat, however South Africa does not have a sufficient surplus to export to them. Industrial espionage was also a concern as experts were sent to South Africa with video cameras. The example was given of ostrich farming, which had previously not been undertaken in Iran. An Iranian delegation had visited an ostrich farm in South Africa and thereafter a book from the farm had been found translated into Arabic and containing the same pictures on an ostrich farm in Iraq.

The Department's mid-year policy review had highlighted peace, security and stability of the continent, involvement in post-conflict resolution, tri-lateral co-operation, international support and resources for Nepad and the need for South Africa to expand representation in the Middle East.
The implications of the Department of Trade and Industry withdrawing its representation in the region had been negative, as the Department of Foreign Affairs did not have the capability to take up its work.

Discussion
Dr Geldenhuys (NNP) commented that if the US linked its attack on Iraq to terrorism, he did not think that it would be related to weapons of mass destruction. He questioned what South Africa's position was with regard to weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Hendrickse (ANC) enquired as to the communication between the Departments of Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs in terms of the Department of Trade and Industry closing down its offices in the Middle East.

Mr Eglin (DP) asked for comment on the phrase "volatile and undemocratic", which had earlier been used to describe the region.

Mr Ramgobin (ANC) raised the issue of Israel and Palestine and stated that there was a view that the linking of Islamic fundamentalists with terrorism was exacerbating the position there. He noted that while the Department had talked of trade in the region, no mention had been made of human rights.

Mr Sithole (ANC) asked what South Africa's views were on the US objective, which envisaged change in the region.

Mr Sunde replied that measures needed to be put in place to fight terrorism, however it was important for the world to first define "terrorism". This needed to be done through the auspices of the UN.

With regards to the Department of Trade and Industry, he said that there had been talks between the Departments. However, Foreign Affairs had only heard about the closing down of the missions via a letter announcing the fact.

Regarding Iraq, he said that the world was not prepared to engage directly with Iraq, although they appeared willing to talk about Iraq. Issues had been raised by South Africa with the Deputy President of Iraq, but limited progress had been made in this respect.

On the question of Islamic fundamentalists, although this could possibly be the case, the possibility had not been considered by either South Africa or the US. The US had yet to even define "islam".

Regarding human rights, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was a firm defender of women's rights and had been effective in getting the message across in the region.

On South Africa's view of the region, it was hoped that American efforts to bring about a "regime change" in the area would not happen. Weapons of mass destruction are a concern and what was possible would be done to see them destroyed.

The Middle East as a region was important for Africa and Nepad and it was hoped that the US and its counterparts would not do anything to disrupt that.

The meeting was adjourned.

Appendix 1:
Pretoria apologises to save face with Tehran
Mail and Guardian Friday, August 2, 2002

The South African government on Friday apologised to the Iranian government after a senior foreign affairs official accused Tehran of industrial espionage.

The apology followed a formal protest by the Iranian Embassy. An embassy official denied the accusations and said that Iran had "no clandestine activities in South Africa".

The diplomatic incident follows Wednesday's briefing by John Sunde, the acting chief director of the Middle East directorate, to Parliament's foreign affairs committee, which was reported in the
media.

In a statement of Friday, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad apologised and expressed regret at Sunde's comments.

"Presentations to the foreign relations committee (sic) are substantially a reflection of South Africa's foreign policy perspectives and not individual interpretations of events."

The statement attributed to Sunde bore no resemblance to South Africa's foreign policy approach to Iran nor was it a mandated position of either the department or the ministry, Pahad said.

"Accordingly, the department extends its unequivocal apology to the government and people of Iran for this alleged misrepresentation of SA' policy towards Iran.

Pretoria would continue to bolster its relations with Iran through an existing bilateral commission, he said.

Department representative Ronnie Mamoepa said he was not aware whether any action would be taken against Sunde.

Sunde told MPs that Pretoria was concerned about industrial espionage by Iran.

"We have concerns for industrial espionage. We get a lot of Iranian technical missions that come here with video cameras."

A classic example was when the Iranian deputy minister of agriculture and other officials visited South Africa a few years ago, accompanied by a technical team, Sunde said.

Until then Iran had no ostrich farming industry.

They toured an ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn and were given a copy of its booklet.

"Now today if you go to Iran ...where they have started the ostrich farming industry, you see that book that they picked up on the farm which has been translated into Farsi. They haven't bothered to change the pictures, its exactly the same pictures."

"When you suggest to them that they should pay royalties for this, they believe in the free lunch (and) they can't understand that they don't get it," Sunde said.

South Africa imports mostly crude oil from Iran, totalling R9-billion in 2001, while its main export to that country is sugar, totalling R471-million. - Sapa

Appendix 2:

South Africa's Policy towards the Middle East
Presentation to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs 31 July 2002

Why is the Middle East important?
It provides 70% of our liquid fuel requirements

Introduction
· Pre 1994 South Africa had one Mission in the region (Israel;)
· By the end of 2002 there will be eleven Missions
· South Africa's relations with the ME since 1994 have diversified and crown exponentially
· Total trade with the Gulf States grew to more than R30 billion in 2001

Policy formulation
· Based on inputs by the Cabinet Lekgotla
· Translated into a business plan
· Cascaded into high-level objectives

High-level objectives
· Promotion of NEPAD
· Trade and Tourism
· Support of the Middle East Peace Process
· Peace, Security and Stability
· SADC
· Imaging and branding

Functional division of responsibilities of the Chief Directorate Middle East
· Directorate Levant
· Directorate Gulf States

The Directorate Levant manages relations with:
· Iraq
· Jordan
· Israel
· Palestine
· Syria
· Lebanon

Levant focus areas are:
· Middle East peace process
· "War on Terrorism - Iraq and the sanctions regime"

The Middle East Peace Process
· Assistance to Palestine -
· Humanitarian flight
· R4 million for medical supplies
· Minister Dlamini-Zuma leads NAM delegation to visit Pres. Arafat
· Spier process follow-up proposal for civil society visit to Israel and Palestine
· Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad's visit

The "War on Terrorism - Iraq and the UN sanctions regime"
· Given the warm relations between SA and Iraq SA needs to engage Iraq on its compliance of UN sanctions whilst being mindful of the tensions between Iraq and the USA

Gulf States focus areas are
· Trade and investment
· The "War on Terrorism - Iran"

Trade and Investment
· The skewed balance of trade - SA oil dependency
· The need for SA trade and investment in the Gulf and vice versa

The "War on Terrorism - Iran"
· In the hairline aim of the USA Exporting the revolution

Bilateral relations
The Gulf States

The Directorate Gulf States manages relations with:
· Saudi Arabia

· United Arab Emirates
· Iran
· Kuwait
· Qatar
· Oman
· Babrain
· Yemen

The Mid- Year policy review
To review the performance of the Department since January 2002 and plan for 2003

Africa will remain the priority of DFA
· Peace security and stability of the continent
· Involvement in post conflict reconstruction
· Trilateral co-operation - provision of medical doctors by Iran
· 40th Anniversary of the founding of the OAU - financial contributions towards AU, NEPAD and Outreach programme by Arab States
· Seized with implementation of NEPAD
· International support and resources for NEPAD
· SA urgently needs to expand its representation in Africa, Asia and the Middle East

Opening of new Missions in the Middle East 2002/2003
· Qatar
· Oman
· Iraq
· Syria

Department of Trade and Industry withdrawal of its representatives abroad
· Implications

Building of international partnerships
· Arab League
· Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
· Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) - NEPAD workshop 2003 SADC/GCC co-operation
· IOWARC - Ministerial Meeting in Colombo March 2003 -NEPAD

South Co-operation
· Indispensable for implementation of Key NEPAD programs

The NAM Chair and later Troika
· Continued humanitarian assistance to Palestine

Developing tri-lateral partnerships between South Africa and countries of the North and South
· Specific programs - demining, small arms

Strengthening capacity at Head Office and Missions
· To respond to multilateral challenges