OPCW Director-General Attends African Union Summit

On 23 January 2006, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, attended the opening of the Sixth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, held in Khartoum, the Sudan, from 23 to 24 January 2006.

The Sixth Summit was attended by heads of state, Prime Ministers, and other high level officials from African Union Member States, as well as representatives from the United Nations, the European Union, African Union partner countries and other international organizations and institutions.

During the Summit, Director-General Pfirter met high-level representatives of six African States that have not yet joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and encouraged them to continue their efforts to swiftly ratify or accede to the treaty. Ambassador Pfirter held discussions with the President of the Central African Republic, General François Bozize; President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, H.E. Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed; as well as the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Angola, the Comoros, and the Central African Republic. The Director-General received reassurances about these States’ full commitment with the principles enshrined in the Convention and determination to join soon. The Director-General also met the Deputy Foreign Minister of Egypt.

In his meetings with the high-level African officials, Director-General Pfirter expressed the readiness of the OPCW to provide them with all necessary assistance to enable them to swiftly join the Convention and thus contribute to a chemical weapons-free world.

Director-General Pfirter also had the opportunity to meet the President of the Sudan, President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir; and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the National Authority of the Sudan, H.E. Mr Dafalla E. A. Osman.

PR3 / 2006

Categories: Africa, OPCW and the UN