NAM meeting divided over Bosnian issue
CARTAGENA, Colombia (JP): Senior officials of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) concluded their two-day meeting here on Sunday without a decision on the admission of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Costa Rica as new members.
The issue is now left for their respective ministers to resolve during the next two days before the movement holds its 11th summit in this coastal resort town on Oct. 18-20.
President Soeharto, the outgoing chairman, is scheduled to fly in today from Cancun, Mexico, where he spent the night after a long flight across the Pacific from Jakarta.
Indonesia's senior diplomat Nana Sutresna, who is the chief executive assistant to the NAM chairman, said on Sunday that a number of African states are opposing Bosnia's application to join the organization.
"We have not reached consensus on Bosnia's membership," Nana was quoted by Antara as saying. "The issue will now be brought to the ministerial level meeting."
The news agency, quoting delegation sources to the senior officials meeting, said Zimbabwe and a number of other African countries sympathized with ex-Yugoslavia, which now consists of Serbia and Montenegro, largely because of its past support of the African cause.
Yugoslavia was one of the founding members of NAM. Its membership was frozen at the last NAM summit in Jakarta in 1992 because of its support of the Serbian rebels in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Croatia, both recognized as sovereign states by the United Nations.
Nana said there was opposition to Costa Rica's application to join NAM from a number of Middle East countries, chiefly because the Central American state has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Japan's application for an observer status in NAM was opposed by North Korea. Pyongyang said Japan has yet to apologize for its military atrocities during the World War II and has not paid war compensation to North Korea.
Macedonia's application for a guest status in NAM has been opposed by Cyprus, who objects to the name.
Because everything has to be decided by consensus, NAM has moved painstakingly slow on almost every issue.
There were broad agreements on various issues, including the admission of Turkmenistan to become the group's 113th member.
Nana said the fact that a number of countries have applied to join the group either as members, observers or guests underlined the importance of the organization.
Three years ago, before the 10th summit in Jakarta, questions were raised about the relevance of NAM in the wake of the Cold War. NAM was founded in 1962 as a forum for countries wishing to remain neutral in the superpower conflict.
According to Antara, the senior officials agreed on the formation of the upcoming summit's structure. Colombia will assume the summit's chairmanship and will be accompanied by nine deputies from Africa, eight from Asia, four from Latin America and two from Europe.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said on Sunday the summit will issue a statement, tentatively to be called the "Appeal from Colombia" which will state NAM's position on various issues.
Elaboration of NAM's position will be contained in the final document with 344 points divided into four chapters: global issues, analysis of the international situation, economic issues and social issues.
Alatas stressed the need for NAM to adapt to dynamic global changes. "I'm confident that under Colombia's leadership, NAM will continue to effectively adapt and respond to the challenges. And I'm confident that under the leadership of Colombian President, Ernesto Samper, NAM will make better achievements."
Indonesia, after handing over the chairmanship, will continue to support and cooperate with all the decisions made at this summit, he added. (mds/emb)
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