African Leaders Wish Palestinian-Israeli Talks SuccessfulAfrican leaders Tuesday expressed their wish that the tripartite talks currently being held in Washington on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process would be a success.The heads of state and government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), who are meeting here at the 36th session of the Assembly on July 10-12, said that they hope the talks will put the Middle East peace process back on track. "We welcome the participation of Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ehud Barak in these direct talks and hope that their efforts will create the environment for success," the leaders said in a statement released while they are in a closed- door plenary session. The leaders hope the talks will lead to a comprehensive agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis covering all pending issues, in particular Jerusalem and the refugees. "We therefore call upon the three leaders (Arafat, Barak and Bill Clinton) to spare no effort in bringing the talks to a successful conclusion and the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and the realization of the right to self- determination by the Palestinians and the establishment of their own state in Palestine," they said. The African leaders, 33 of them, are considering the Draft Constitutive Act of the African Union initiated during an extraordinary summit on September 9, 1999 in Sirte, Libya and the Draft Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament. They also debated the Decisions and Recommendations of the 71st and 72nd Ordinary sessions of the Council of Ministers and Regulations of the 6th and 7th Ordinary sessions of the African Economic Community. Other items include the reviewing of reports on human rights, malaria, the Africa-Europe Summit which was held in April in Egypt among others. At the end of the summit, they will adopt declarations and resolutions and set the date and venue for their next summit, the 37th ordinary session of the assembly of heads of State and government of OAU. Founded on May 25, 1963, the OAU is designated to promote the unity and solidarity of the African states, defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of members, coordinate and intensify the cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa. |
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