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President to lead Lankan delegation to NAM

The Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the 13th Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit commenced here yesterday (20) with a special emphasis on the issues on the situation in Iraq and the Middle East, the two main topics that are likely to dominate the entire Summit.

Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando is expected here today (21) and be attending at tomorrow's Ministerial meeting. Apart from his contribution to the brain storming sessions of the adaptation of the draft Kuala Lumpur declaration, Minister Fernando is also scheduled to hold a series of meetings with his counterparts mainly from East and South Asian countries.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is to lead the Sri Lanka delegation at the Summit, which is considered the biggest event ever had in the NAM history since its inception in 1961, with the participation of more than 60 Heads of States. The President is also scheduled to meet a large number of Head of States during her presence in Malaysia.

Foreign Secretary Nihal Rodrigo led the delegation yesterday at the SOM sessions, at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) which will see more than five thousand delegates and a massive contingent of mediamen from around the world.

Malaysia, which will take over the chair of the Summit from South Africa seems to be lobbying the NAM nations against a possible war against Iraq, diplomatic sources said.

"The 13th NAM Summit in Kuala Lumpur is expected to do exactly what the United States and its allies hope it won't," Malaysian national newspaper New Straits Times reported.

"The 114-member NAM which represents the overwhelming majority of the 191 United Nations member states, is poised to send a strong message to the US and Britain that the world is against unilateral military action against Iraq," the newspaper added.

Though UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has cancelled his presence at the NAM Summit due to the situation in Iraq and the Middle East, the impact of the Summit on the UN will be enormous, said a senior diplomat from the Middle East.

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