Sudanese President partakes in Sana'a Grouping Summit held in Ethiopia

Via SudaneseOnline.com - Sudanese President partakes in Sana'a Grouping Summit held in Ethiopia :

KHARTOUM, Feb 24 (KUNA) -- Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir was to lead a delegation tomorrow to Sana'a Grouping Summit, scheduled to be held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa next Monday February 26, Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) Saturday.

Heads of state and government of the four countries comprising the grouping, Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen and Somalia, were to take part in the summit's conference, the agency added.

Furthermore, the meetings would look into a number of issues, evaluation of the performance during the previous period, implementation of agreements and resolutions issued earlier and establishment of permanent secretariat.

The summit would also discuss conflicts in the region, top of which were Somalia and Darfur, besides discussing aspects of economic cooperation among the four states, as meetings of the experts already began last Thursday and looked into preparations and agenda of the Addis Ababa Summit.

Sana'a Grouping of Red Sea and Horn of Africa Nations was spearheaded by Yemen in 2002 to bring stability, in addition to political and economic cooperation to the area.

'Protect Somalis' Red Cross urges

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for the warring parties in Somalia to protect civilians caught in the conflict.

Hundreds of civilians have been wounded in fighting between Ethiopian-backed government forces and Islamist fighters since January, the ICRC said.

Full story by BBC 24 Feb 2007.

Somalia to get 8,000 peacekeepers

Feb 21 2007 BBC report:

The United Nations Security Council has approved the deployment of an African Union peacekeeping force to Somalia.

A resolution has urged all AU member states to contribute troops. Moreover, a UN force may arrive in six months.