| Date: 08/05/2012 Time: 10:41:00 PM |
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Kamel Amr said Tuesday the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ministerial meeting, due
here tomorrow, was of crucial importance.
The meeting will be the last one chaired by Egypt since the country assumed
the presidency of the Movement at the 2009 NAM summit, the minister said,
noting that Iran will take over the rotating presidency of the organization.
He made the press remarks upon his arrival here from Cairo to chair
preparatory meeting for the ministerial gathering.
"It will be the first NAM meeting hosted by Egypt since the January 25,
2011, revolution; it will give momentum to Egypt's leading role in the
organization," he said.
"The large participation by almost all NAM member states in the meeting is
an evidence of the confidence in port-revolution Egypt and in Sharm El-Sheikh
as meeting place for the world leaders," he pointed out.
The Minister noted that 40 observer countries will be represented at the
meeting along with President of the Sixty-Sixth session of the United Nations
General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, of Qatar.
Asked about the challenges facing Egypt in the wake of the revolution and
their impacts on the preparations for the meeting, Amr said: "the revolution
gave an impetus to the Egyptian diplomacy and enhanced our presence in Africa
which constitutes the bulk of the NAM membership."
He cited as evidence of the success of the Egyptian diplomacy the
successful mediation between Sudan and South Sudan after the recent tensions.
Amr added that he plans for holding bilateral talks with foreign ministers
of the NAM on the sidelines of the meeting; the talks will start this evening
with the ministers of Iraq, Armenia and Lebanon, and with Iran's Ali Akbar
Salehi, who will take over the NAM presidency tomorrow. |