Sudan Praises Malaysia’s Leadership Of NAM
Sudan Praises Malaysia’s Leadership Of NAM
By R. Ravichandran
KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) — Malaysia has done a good job in helming the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) over the past three years, Sudan’s ambassador to Malaysia, Abdel Rahman Hamza Elrayah Hamza, said today.
He said Malaysia had steered the 114-member movement to the expectations of its members, especially in voicing the interests of developing nations in the international arena.
He said the country had also taken efforts to revitalise the movement so that it would remain relevant to the changing times.
“Malaysia has lived up to the expectations of NAM members…they have put up marvellous effort to promote and enhance cooperation among NAM members,” he told Bernama in an interview in conjunction with the NAM Coordination Bureau Ministerial Meeting due in Putrajaya on May 27-30.
Malaysia, which took over the NAM chairmanship from South Africa in February 2003, is due to hand over the post to Cuba when the Caribbean country hosts the 14th NAM Summit in Havana in September.
Abdel Rahman said that under Malaysia’s chairmanship, it had organised important conferences for the benefit of NAM countries, many of which were developing nations.
He said the Conference of Ministers of Information of NAM (Cominac) in November last year, which culminated in the setting up of the NAM News Network (NNN), would a major step in dissemination of news and information about developing countries, often victims of biased reporting by the western media.
The hosting of the NAM Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women in May last year was another proof of Malaysia’s strong commitment to NAM, he said.
“I think Malaysia has been quite successful in leading the Non-Aligned Movement,” he added.
Abdel Rahman said that at the Putrajaya meeting, Sudan was expected to update the delegation on the outcome of the African Union (AU) Summit held in January and the Arab Summit in March, both in Sudan, as well the latest development on the Darfur conflict.
NAM, which traces its origin to the Bandung Asia-Africa Conference, held its first conference in Belgrade in 1961.
— BERNAMA