Mubarak and 53 African leaders discuss African problems in Abuja tomorrow
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 1/29/2005

Abuja summit to discuss issues of Darfur, Cote d'Ivoire, and Greater Lakes, combating poverty, AIDS and malaria

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak arrives today in Abuja, Nigeria to head Egypt's delegation to the fourth summit of the African Union which will be opened by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The two-day summit will be attended by 53 African heads of state to discuss several issues including the conflicts in Darfur, Cote d'Ivoire, and Greater Lakes, representation of Africa in the Security Council, besides the issues of combating poverty, AIDS and Malaria and the structure of the African Union.

Upon his arrival in Abuja, President Mubarak will meet Nigerian President Obasanjo for discussing ways of cementing bilateral relations, exchanging views on topics to be tackled by the summit, and efforts by the African Union for dissolving raging conflicts in the Continent.

While in Abuja, the president is expected to meet a large number of African leaders. Abdel Moneim Talaat, the ambassador of Egypt to Nigeria said the president's visit to Nigeria is highly appreciated by the Nigerian and African political quarters. The Abuja summit gives special significance to the issue of enlarging the Security Council.

Reports indicate that the summit will explore the chance of Africa to occupy a permanent seat in the Security Council.

In this respect, there are three trends in the summit: first is commitment for the time being to Harare agreement of 1997 which provides for occupying this seat alternately.

The second calling for opening the stage before candidature for elections and the third calls for waiting for the report which will be submitted by the United Nations Secretary General at the millennium meeting which will be held in September.

During that summit, Annan will submit his vision of reforming the United Nations and the need for Africa to occupy a permanent seat. The summit is expected to take practical steps for establishing the executive bodies of the African Union such as the parliament and the secretariat of the African Union.

In this regard, Egypt will submit a number of suggestions and development initiatives which will be announced by President Mubarak before the African summit.

The African Ministerial Council to which Egypt's delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit wrapped up its activities yesterday by drafting a report which would be referred to the summit. Egypt had requested hosting the headquarters of the African Investment Bank while Mauritius requested hosting the seat of the African Court of Justice.

The Ministerial Council referred to the summit recommendation on the establishment of an African army.

Reporting from Abuja, Middle East News Agency (MENA) said the draft communiquŽ which would be submitted to the summit would "call on the international community and the Quartet to support the new Palestinian leadership for securing early implementation of the roadmap.

MENA said the summit would discuss a draft resolution on canceling customs among the members of the African Union, and unifying custom tariffs among its members in dealing with world countries. African Union (AU) Commission President Alpha Omar Konare has expressed concern about the fact that the volume of arrears due by the Union member states to the pan-African group are increasing as several members have failed to pay their shares in the union's budget. In a report to be presented to the African summit to open on Sunday, Konare said that arrears until December 31, 2005 amounted to about 50 million dollars and the African commission had to withdraw from its own reserves to discharge its duty.

Egypt has been regularly paying its shares in the AU budget without any delay. Egypt is among five countries termed as ceiling states as their shares in the AU budget are larger than the other countries. The so-called ceiling states are Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria and South Africa.

Egypt's share in the AU budget amounts to 3.8 million dollars per year.

On the other hand, Commission President Alpha Omar Konare said conditions in the western Sudanese region of Darfure still represent a political and military challenge to Africa and the international community. In his report to the AU summit, the official said security and humanitarian conditions in Darfur have topped the commission's priorities.

The report says both government and rebels have violated the ceasefire agreement over the past few months. Efforts are still being exerted in the Sudanese region to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis in Darfur as two protocols were signed by the government and rebel groups' leaders on Nov 9, 2004 on security and humanitarian matters, the report read.

For his part, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, currently attending the African Union (AU) ministerial meetings in Abuja, held a series of meetings to review Cairo's viewpoints with regard to several African issues. He met with his counterparts of Burkina Faso, Libya, Senegal, Tanzania, Algeria, Tunisia, Zambia and South Africa. The Egyptian top diplomat also received a phone call from: US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice.

The development in the Middle East, the situation in Iraq and the Sudanese peace accord and terrorism in the African continent will also come high on the agenda of the AU summit, slated for Sunday and Monday in Abuja.

Previous Stories:
  Abul Gheit: Cooperation between Egypt, African continent political decision   (1/28/2005)
  Egypt committed to rotating UNSC seats for Africa   (1/6/2005)
  Mubarak urged the Palestinian and Israeli sides to abide by the Roadmap; Hizb al-Karamah al-Arabia refused license   (10/6/2004)

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