Clinton pledges closer US ties with South Africas Zuma

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South African President Jacob Zuma on Saturday pledged to cement closer ties between the new administrations in Washington and Pretoria. Clinton held a 45-minute meeting with Zuma, seen as a US ally on Zimbabwe and fighting AIDS, as part of a 11-day African tour which comes just three weeks after US President Barack Obama visited the continent. In both countries there are two new administrations which are taking that relationship to a level higher. That's what we're trying to do, Zuma told journalists after the meeting in the coastal city of Durban. After hailing a new spirit of cooperation on Friday and expressing Obama's desire to work closely with Zuma, Clinton again pointed to the strengthened cooperation with Africa's largest economy. We have been tasked by our respective presidents, the (South African) foreign minister and I, to put meat on the bone, to get to work, to make sure the expectations of President Zuma and President Obama are met. The substantive discussions included Zimbabwe, Somalia and Sudan, she said. The two countries vowed joint action Friday to induce reforms in Zimbabwe with Clinton later visiting an AIDS clinic, where she praised the new government's commitment to fight HIV which affects nearly six million South Africans. The two countries had uneasy relations when ruled by former presidents Thabo Mbeki and George W. Bush, over Zimbabwe, the fight against AIDS, and the Iraq invasion.