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OAU States Prepare For UN Meeting On Small Arms
Panafrican News Agency
July 8, 2000

by Nelson Magombo

LOME, Togo (PANA) - An African ministerial conference to prepare the continent's participation in the UN conference on small arms and light weapons will be held from 31 October to 3 November in Mali, OAU Secretary
General Salim Ahmed Salim disclosed Friday in Lome.

In a report to the ongoing council of ministers conference which is preparing an agenda for the OAU summit that opens 10 July, he said the Mali gathering would ensure that Africa's interests "on this very important topic
are duly taken into account during the 2001 UN conference.

The African group laid the groundwork for the Mali conference during a preliminary meeting on the subject in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May. That meeting was also attended by government experts from OAU member states, the
African diplomatic corps in Addis Ababa, representatives of UN agencies and other international organisations as well as NGOs that are partners of the OAU.

Salim said the meeting's agenda included "items on the nature, scope and impact of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, the initiatives taken in various regions of the continent and outside Africa to deal with this problem, and the elements of the African position."

"The recommendations made relate to the prevention and reduction of illicit proliferation and trade in small arms and light weapons, and on the other hand, also relate to policy, institutional arrangements and operational
measures for addressing this problem," he said.

African leaders expressed concern about the spreading of small arms and light weapons at the 1999 Algiers summit and requested the OAU secretariat to organise a preparatory conference on the matter prior to the UN
conference.