nam 6jun2

 New Delhi, June 5, IRNA -- In keeping with the decision taken in April
at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ministerial-level meeting in Durban,
a delegation of NAM foreign ministers visited the West Bank town of   
Ramallah to meet the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, and express solidarity
with the Palestine cause.                                             
    According to the Hindu, a New Delhi-based English daily, India was
represented by prime minister's special envoy, Ravi Shankar Prasad,   
Minister of State for Coal and Mines, who met Arafat and conveyed to  
him India's support for the Palestinian cause.                        
    Prasad, who returned here on Monday night, after the two-day visit
to Ramallah said that Arafat deeply appreciated the significance of   
the Indian gesture of deputing a special envoy in the NAM ministerial 
delegation in spite of the prevailing tension at its border.          
    He also highlighted the fact that India valued its traditional    
commitment to the Palestinian cause which was the most important      
cause in the Arab world.                                              
    As part of the NAM delegation, the Foreign Ministers of Malaysia, 
Zimbabwe, South Africa had also visited Ramallah. Foreign Ministers of
Egypt and Algeria were not part of the NAM delegation.                
    Arafat is said to have requested the NAM delegation to get UN     
approval for the "Arab Peace Plan" as mooted by Saudi Arabia and      
often referred to as the "Land for Peace" plan which also permits     
Israelis to live with dignity.                                        
BH/AR                                                                 
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