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Delegation Of The Japanese Solidarity Committee

* 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.