Tuesday, October 19, 1999 Published at 23:38 GMT 00:38 UK
World: Middle East
Mandela makes Gaza plea
United in struggle: Yasser Arafat and Nelson Mandela
On the final stop of his Middle East tour, Nelson Mandela has urged Israel to withdraw from territory won from the Arabs in the 1967 war.
He said: "Israel should withdraw from all the areas which it won from the Arabs in 1967, and in particular Israel should withdraw completely from the Golan Heights, from south Lebanon and from the West Bank."
Mr Mandela is a long-time supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and a close friend of Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat.
Schoolchildren, who had stood since early morning to greet Mr Mandela, waved Palestinian and South African flags and posters of the two presidents.
A Palestinian official said the visit held a lot of meaning: "He said what had to be said and that is peace requires full Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas."
The Israeli Government had earlier reacted very positively to Mr Mandela's visit to their country.
Foreign minister David Levy said: "We are very proud this man has visited us".
Mr Mandela said his visit was intended to heal old wounds caused by links between the Jewish state and the old apartheid regime in South Africa.
Observers believe Mr Mandela's visit is a sign of his high regard for the new Israeli Government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak.