Egypt stresses necessity of realising African integration

The African Foreign Ministers taking part in the 74th session of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) ministerial council discussed Friday a detailed report on the implementation of the Sirte Declaration on the establishment of the African Union.

OAU Secretary General Salem Ahmed Salem floated, during the meeting, a number of ideas and proposals on the transitional period before the OUA becomes the African Union.

Egypt called for scrutinising the ideas and proposals tabled by Salem and chief delegates to the OUA to help attain the objectives and carry out the tasks of the African Union.

Egypt also urged agreement on specific arrangements with regard to the union's structures and formation of committees expected to replace the general secretariat.

African Affairs assistant Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ali Hassan stressed the necessity of realising African integration through economic cooperation and making peace and security.

Making peace is an important matter for realising African unity, he said, pointing to the successes of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) during the past period.

The OAU helped achieve peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia, pushed efforts to solve the problems of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and the Comoros, Hassan said during the closed working session of the OAU ministerial council on Thursday evening in Lusaka.

Hassan represented Egypt on behalf of Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in the session, aimed at preparing for Monday's OAU summit.

The two-hour session discussed a report represented by OAU Secretary General Salem Ahmed Salem on the organization's activities during the past six months since the convocation of the ministerial council in Tripoli, Libya, in February.

On DRC, Hassan said the foreign forces started to withdraw from Congo within the framework of the Lusaka agreement and national dialogue started between the various Congolese factions.

Commenting on the situation in Somalia, he lauded the election of President Abdikassim Salad Hassan at the Djibouti-sponsored Arta peace conference.

Egypt supports the efforts towards achieving all-out reconciliation in Somalia, he said.

He also welcomed Ethiopia-Somalia contacts, urging the international community and donor countries to advance necessary support to Somalia to re-build the country.

Hassan said that making peace in Sudan comes atop the Egyptian priorities, adding that Egypt submitted a working paper to arrange for holding a conference for the Sudanese factions. The reactions on the paper were positive, he commented.