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South Africa: Hamas representatives at Mandela tributes
 [AFRICANEWS] Senior Hamas officials joined Nelson Mandela's family as tributes to South Africa's first black president on the 10th anniversary of his death in the capital Pretoria on Tuesday, AFP journalists noted.
South Africa, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, is one of the countries most critical of the massive and deadly Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the bloody attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on 7 October.
Nelson Mandela, who advocated "freedom for the Palestinians", died in 2013 at the age of 95. Leaders from around the world, including the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, were present at his funeral, but Israeli leaders did not attend.
On Tuesday, the family of the anti-apartheid hero laid a wreath in front of the statue of him in front of government headquarters in Pretoria.
Basem Naim, former Health Minister for Hamas in Gaza, and Khaled Qaddoumi, representative of the Islamist movement in Iran, were present. In the preceding days, they had also taken part in a conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict organised by Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, in Johannesburg.
Posted by: Fred 2023-12-06 |
