Preparatory meetings for French - African summit

The ministerial meetings to prepare for a summit between Africa and France in November 2000, will be convened on December 7 and 8 on the level of foreign ministers.

Egypt's delegation is headed by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, and it will attend along with the foreign ministers of 50 African countries.

Ambassador Abraham Ali Hassan, the assistant foreign minister for African affairs, said Egypt will emphasize during this conference the importance of achieving security and stability in Africa as a basis for achieving African development, and it will also stress the importance of cooperation for solving disputes through discussion and of combining the efforts to confront the problems facing the continent like poverty, hunger and disease, among which is AIDS.