Sudan Prepares For Sahel-Sahara Summit

Sudan will be hosting this February 12-13 the third summit conference of the community of Sahelian and Saharan states.

Prior to the summit, a ministerial council will convene Feb. 10-11 February to review the agenda of the summit.

Sudan's minister of foreign affairs, Mustafa Osman, on Saturday, said his government had extended invitations to all the community's heads of state and government to attend the summit and that about 80% of those leaders have confirmed their participation.

The community comprises Sudan, Libya, the Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Eritrea, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria were nominated to join community's membership and were invited to attend the summit, said the Sudanese minister.

Osman said invitations were also extended to a number of regional and international figures, including the secretaries-general of the Organization of Islamic Conference(OIC) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Director-General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO) and the secretary-general of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA).

He said the summit will discuss issues related to security in the region, political coordination and economic integration.