Palestinian Foreign Minister Malik Riak will visit Brasilia next week to meet with leaders and representatives of India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum to seek support for peace negotiations with Israel, a government official said Thursday.
The meeting will take place during the IBSA summit, scheduled for next Thursday in the capital city of Brazil, and will take the form of "3+1", Roberto Jaguaribe, secretary general for political affairs of Brazil's Foreign Ministry, told a press conference.
The IBSA is a trilateral, developmental initiative between India, Brazil and South Africa to promote South-South cooperation and exchange, according to its official website.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the summit next Thursday.
Jaguaribe said the IBSA "may play an important role, acting with fairness and balance for Palestine and Israel to promote understanding."
He also said there is a sense of frustration for the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process and it is necessary for new players to bring the two sides together.
Riak's upcoming meeting with the IBSA leaders is part of the Brazilian initiative to mediate the Middle East peace process, which led Lula to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories last month.
Front Page Features