Nelson Mandela to attend Gulf states summit in Abu Dhabi

South African Vice President Thabo Mbeki announced that President Nelson Mandela will attend the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states (GCC), which Abu Dhabi will host on December 7.

In a press conference quoted by the Saudi Press Agency, the South African vice president said that President Mandela will be the first president to address the GCC, to express the deep warm relations linking the GCC states to the country of South Africa.

He added that South Africa will buy huge quantities of oil from Saudi Arabia, due to "the needs of its local markets." He added that a delegation from Aramco will visit Pretoria on November 16 to discuss the petrochemical agreement between the two countries.

The South African vice president left Riyadh later Wednesday, following a four-day official visit during which he held talks with senior Saudi officials.