|
*
2/4/2002
At
the invitation of AAPSO, a delegation of the Japanese Solidarity
Committee, headed by the President of the Committee Mr. Toshio
Akiniwa, visited Egypt as part of their trip to the Arab region from
31/3 to 5/4/2002.
The delegation met with the AAPSO Permanent Secretariat. They
addressed a number of wide ranging issues of mutual interest and the
international situation in the wake of 11/9 events. This was linked
to security, peace, stability and development in Asia, Africa and
Latin America, as well as the American military presence in many
parts of the continent. The meeting also discussed the international
alliance against terrorism, the Middle East crisis, the Arab-Israeli
conflict, the Palestinian people's Intifada as well as the
perspectives for establishing peace and disarmament.
However, the delegation's main concern was to examine ways and means
to revive the Non-Aligned Movement particularly in view of the
dangerous changes that have occurred in the international arena
following 11/9 events and their impact on disarmament, wide American
military expansion worldwide, especially in Asian countries and the
Middle East. The Non-Aligned Movement Summit is expected to meet in
Amman from 17-28 July 2002, preceded by preparatory meeting in the
Jordanian capital. These are 1- Ministerial Preparatory meeting
26-29/4/2002; 2- Senior Officials Meeting on 14/7; and 3-
Ministerial meeting on the eve of the Summit on 15-16/7.
Examining the international situation, both parties expressed their
alarm due to the extreme winds of war that blow and have recently
spread as well as the threat to use and deploy military bases and
American weapons of mass destruction in many parts of the world
under the pretext of fighting so-called terrorism or containing
rogue states. Such pretexts and justifications that have wreaked
wide-ranging destruction in Afghanistan and the Nazi genocide
campaign perpetrated against the Palestinian people as well as the
arrogant statements made by American officials that threaten the use
of nuclear arms against seven UN member states. Finally, the
accusation that Iran, Syria and Iraq were supporting international
terrorism in order to prepare the world for accepting any American
attack on these countries was also dealt with.
Both parties concluded that such a situation demanded, more than
ever, the revival of international solidarity among the peoples of
Asia, Africa and Latin -America against the savage attack and in
defence of the legitimate rights of the peoples of the three
continents to development and progress without the threat of
international sanctions or state terrorism against any country, and
this to suppress the growing movement to hinder the resort to
aggression. In fact, both parties indicated that such tendency to
aggression was accompanied by deteriorating economic and living
conditions in developing countries and growing disparity between
poverty and wealth rates at the international level between advanced
and developing countries and within each of these countries
respectively. This phenomenon is a natural outcome of poverty and
social injustice represented by economic globalization. In other
words, the global alliance forged by economic powers and
international capital to protect the interests of a few men in the
world. It is noteworthy, in this respect, that such flagrant resort
to aggression is but the general staff of economic globalization.
From this analysis, AAPSO and the Japanese committee have expressed
their concern to revive and stimulate the Non-Aligned movement,
bearing in mind international transformations that should be
addressed, including the task of the movement, its means of action
and social power. Both parties underlined the need for civil society
participation as well as NGOs and public opinion circles in the
meetings held by the movement in order to achieve the objectives of
bonding it with its peoples and circles that express them. For it is
the sole means for the success of the movement and realization of
its objectives.
In this concern, the Japanese committee in cooperation with the
Organization will strive to organize an international conference for
NGOs in Amman on the eve of the NAM summit in Jordan to present a
paper expressing the position of these organizations with regard to
the summit's agenda.
Hence, the Japanese delegation left to Jordan and will return to
Cairo to conclude the final preparations for organizing this
conference and according to what will be agreed upon with the
Jordanian Solidarity committee. The latter and its secretary general
Mr. Eissa Madanat are exerting their utmost to ensure the success of
the meeting.
|
