Francophonic council starts today: Middle East, Ivory Coast and terrorism, issues

The meetings of the foreign ministers of the Francophonic states who started to arrive in Beirut on Monday starts today. Among the main arrivals was the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Maher who will preside over his country's delegation to the Francophonic summit itself instead of President Hosni Mubarak.

While the ministerial meeting is expected to continue until tomorrow, the Francophonic secretary general Butrous Butrous Ghali explained in a press conference he held on Monday that the meeting of the representatives of the participating states in the summit which was held on Sunday discussed the Middle East crisis and that "a recommendation was reached in this regard," to be subjected to amendments by the foreign ministers or the heads of states.

Ghali added that the meeting also discussed the situation in the Ivory coast which is of concern to several African states members in the Francophonic organization and the meeting also dealt with the issue of terrorism.

Today's ministerial meeting will be the second station in launching the deliberations of the Francophonic summit. The first station was on Monday when the permanent council was held under the chairmanship of Ghali. The participants discussed "Beirut's declaration" work paper and formula which will be discussed in the summit. The council also reviewed projects to be proposed for implementation to the summit.

The council also studies several applications by countries seeking to join the Francophonic organization.