UN reform, Iran's N-plan to figure in Nam meet

The three-day Nam ministerial meeting beginning today at Putrajaya International Convention Centre is expected to cover a wide range of issues, including UN reform, next UN secretary general, Iran's nuclear programme and the Palestine conflict, diplomatic sources said.

Among the 114 member countries, foreign ministers of 52 nations will attend the meeting, while the deputy ministers and senior officials will represent the other states.

The Nam has reached a broad agreement on the need for comprehensive reform in the UN and the Security Council, as well as the expansion of the latter. However, there are disagreements on whether the expansion would be in the permanent or non-permanent section.

Malaysia became the chair of Nam when it took over from South Africa and hosted the 13th Nam Summit in Kuala Lumpur in February 2003. Cuba will succeed Malaysia in September.

The senior officials preparing for the ministerial meeting continued with their deliberations yesterday after a marathon session, which ended late Saturday night. Besides the senior officials' meeting (SOM), the ministers of the Nam 'troika' countries and the group of former Nam chair countries also met yesterday.

Meanwhile, a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that the foreign minister spent a busy day upon arrival, meeting his counterparts in Kuala Lumpur.

He also attended the Ministerial Meeting of the Nam Committee on Palestine, ahead of the Nam Ministerial, accompanied by the Bangladesh High Commissioner in Malaysia Shafiuddin Ahmed.

Foreign Minister of Malaysia Hamid Albar chaired the meeting.

In his statement on Palestine, Morshed Khan emphasised that the Palestinian leadership must remain united and speak in one voice to attain their legitimate right of an independent state.

He also expressed concerns about the looming financial crisis due to the sanctions imposed by Israel on the Palestinian authority and added that the fast deteriorating situation in Palestine will not only exacerbate the sufferings of the Palestinian people but will also undermine the Middle East peace process.

Earlier, Foreign Minister of the Pale stinian authority Farouk Kaddoumi briefed the meeting about the latest developments in Palestine.

The foreign ministers of Indonesia, Cuba, Qatar, India, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria, Tanzania, Ghana and Zimbabwe also made statements and expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for an independent state.

The meeting adopted a declaration calling the Quartet -- the United States, European Union, Russian Federation and the United Nations -- to exert all efforts to revive the peace process and to salvage the 'Road Map.'