Ethiopia: Over 4,000 delegates to attend AU summit
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
January 24, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) – Thousands of delegates including heads of state from over 34 African countries will take part at the 16th ordinary session of African Union (AU) summit, Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry said the 18th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 21st Meeting of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee of the African Union are all scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa beginning on Monday 24 January 2011.
“More than 4,000 delegates including African Heads of State and Government as well as representatives of International Organizations and other distinguished invited guests are expected to attend the Summit,” said the ministry.
The week-long summit due to be held under the theme “Towards Greater Unity and Integration through Shared Values” is said also to bring international figures including UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon and representatives of European Union, Arab League, Asia Latin and North America as well as international organizations will attend the summit.
This year’s guest of honor will be Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic and current chairperson of the G8 and G20 groups of the world’s richest nations. He will be addressing the opening ceremony of the summit.
On the sidelines to the summit, a number of other meetings will be taking place, in addition to numerous bilateral discussions.
Among them the 24th Summit of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC), meetings of the AU’s NEPAD Steering Committee and the Committee of Ten Heads of State on United Nations Reform are also due to meet.
The 17th Extraordinary Summit of IGAD and two mini-Summits on Sudan and Somalia will also be held. The summit will also and a meeting of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA).
The AU summit will kick off on Monday expected to deliberate on a number of continental concerns.
Despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir is expected to arrive in the Ethiopian capital on Friday. Ethiopia, where the AU is based has always opposed the ICC arrest warrant for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Ethiopia is not a signatory to the Rome statute, which established the court so is under no obligation to arrest Bashir.
(ST)