Russia and South Africa forge closer ties

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-05T093916Z_01_L05061855_RTRUKOC_0_US-SAFRICA-RUSSIA.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-worldNews-3

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin met South African leader Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday at the start of a visit intended to forge closer ties between the mineral and diamond superpowers.

Putin went quickly into talks with Mbeki after arriving in Cape Town from Greece for a two-day visit.

Despite long historical ties between Moscow and the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Putin is on the first visit to South Africa by a Russian head of state.

But the visit is motivated by hard economic considerations more than nostalgia and Putin is accompanied by 100 business leaders hoping to build bridges between two of the world's biggest emerging market economies. snip

Putin, a former KGB spy, will also visit Cape Town's Robben Island, the prison where former South African leader Nelson Mandela was held for almost 20 of his 27 years in jail during the apartheid years.