S. African President Meets UN Chief Ahead of AU Summit in Durban

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, July 08, 2002

S. African President Meets UN Chief Ahead of AU Summit in Durban

South African President Thabo Mbeki held talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan here Sunday ahead of the African Union (AU) summit which is set to be officially inaugurated next Tuesday.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

South African President Thabo Mbeki held talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan here Sunday ahead of the African Union (AU) summit which is set to be officially inaugurated next Tuesday.

The South African President's Office said that the two leaders had met at the port city's Hilton Hotel for about an hour early inthe afternoon, but gave no details of the their discussions.

Political specialists said that Kofi Annan shows his support asUnited Nations secretary-general by coming to witness the launch of the African Union on the African continent.

Annan has been invited to take part in the three-day African Heads of State Assembly, beginning Monday, that will see the AU toreplace the 39-years-old 53-member Organization for African Unity (OAU).

During the G-8 summit in Canada last month, Annan also took seats with five African leaders, including Mbeki, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

According to the president's office, Mbeki moved directly into a meeting with some members of the New Partnership for Africa's Development's (NEPAD) Implementation Committee at another Durban hotel, following his talks with the UN chief.

The 15-country committee, which is headed by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, is tasked with getting the continent's economic recovery plan off the ground.

The other countries in the committee were Botswana, Mozambique,Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, African heads of state continued to stream into the city ahead of the AU summit.

By 3 p.m. Sunday, more than 20 African leaders had arrived in Durban, including Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Ghaddafi was one of the first to arrive, touching down at Durban International Airport around 4.30 p.m. local time Saturday.

Gabonese President Omar Bongo and Obasanjo arrived here early Sunday morning, followed by President Lansana Conte of Guinea, Festus Mogae of Botswana and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique.

Other African leaders that had so far arrived in Durban included those from Benin, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mauritania, the Sudan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Questions?Comments? Click here

OAU Council of Ministers Ends Special Session on AU

African Leaders Arrive in Durban for OAU/AU Summit

FM Spokesman on Chinese Diplomat Killed in Kyrgyzstan ( 16 Messages)

China Races to Replace US as Economic Power in Asia: NY Times ( 24 Messages)

Shanghai Plans Asia's Biggest Shopping Center ( 3 Messages)

China to Boost the Service Sector to Create More Jobs ( 40 Messages)

Chinese Scientists to Head for Suspected ET Relics ( 40 Messages)