His Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Ends Official Visits Abroad

His Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned to Freetown today Monday, 29 November, 2004 after visiting the Republics of Guinea, Algeria and Libya on official government business.

On the invitation of President Lansana Conte of Guinea, PresidentKabbah paid a two-day working visit to Guinea from Friday, 19 to 20 November. The two Heads of State held discussions on a very wide range of issues, from bilateral relations to matters concerning the resuscitation of the Mano River Union secretariat and the security situation in the sub-region, particularly the crisis in Cote D'Ivoire.

The two Heads of State also undertook extensive travels within Guinea to the main agricultural areas and farms of the TANENEH and COBA districts in the DUBREKA administrative zone. At the end of the visit the two Heads of State issued a Press Statement embodying the salient aspects of discussions, understanding and agreements reached between them. They reaffirmed their support to the reactivation of the Mano River Union and expressed their desire to use it as an instrument for the exchange of experience on economic development, social and political integration.

The two Presidents expressed their appreciation for the reopening of the Koindu International Market, a centre that had served as a meeting point for traders and businesspeople from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia since it was founded in 1932, but which, unfortunately had to close down because of the rebel war that began in that area in March of 1991. It was observed by some coincidence that President was born in 1932 and both leaders acknowledged that the reopening of the market will take place on the occasion of observing President Kabbah's 73rd birthday anniversary.

At the bilateral level the two Heads of State reaffirmed their commitment to pursue a peaceful and brotherly solution to the border issue along the Makona/Moa river in conformity with the Anglo-French Treaty of 1912 and renewed by both the 1974 Accord between Guinea and Sierra Leone and the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, signed on 2nd September, 2004, all of which stipulate that the village of Yenga belongs to Sierra Leone and that the Makona/Moa river in that vicinity belongs to Guinea.

In that connection the two Heads of State expressed their desire for and encouraged the joint committee of experts to carry out their assignment in a brotherly and friendly spirit. They also encouraged the members of Parliament of the respective Kissi ethnic communities from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone who hail from that area to move forward and hold their tripartite meeting in Sierra Leone on 25 February 2005, as scheduled and work towards consolidating their fraternal and cultural ties as a way of ensuring lasting peace in the area.

President Kabbah and his delegation left Conakry on Saturday 20th November for Algeria to attend the Summit of African Heads of State of the African Peer Review Forum and NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa's Development in Algiers under the auspices of the African Union, from 22 to 24 November, 2004. In keeping with the commitment of African leaders to enhance and deepen governance in Africa, the 6th Summit of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee held in March 2003, adopted the Memorandum of Understanding on the African Peer Review Mechanism and the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a self assessment and monitoring tool initiated by the members of the Inaugural Summit of the African Union held in Durban, South Africa in July 2002. The APRM aims to foster the adoption of policies and practices that will lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful best practices.

So far, only twenty-three countries in Africa have acceded to the mechanism, of which the Government of President Kabbah is a proud member. The other countries are: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Egypt, Benin, Malawi, Lesotho, Tanzania, Angola and Sierra Leone.

During President Kabbah's stay in Algeria he visited agro-based industries and a vehicle manufacturing and assembly plant along the Algerian Mediterranean coast and held fruitful bilateral discussions with government and enterprise executives of the country. On the question of environmental management, it was proposed that an environmental protection expert from Algeria should come to examine possible ares of intervention in that field on a bilateral basis.

The third and last leg of President Kabbah's visit was Libya where he had been invited to open the 7th Congress of the World Islamic Call Society held in Tripoli on 26th November. The World Islamic Call Society is a non governmental, inter-religious oriented organization that encourages dialogue among the world's great religions, particularly between Islam and Christianity. The 7th Islamic Call Society conference was attended by heads and representatives of many Islamic, Christian Churches and Orthodox Churches from all over the world, including the Vatican, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Patriarch of the Egyptian Coptic Church, etc.

In his address to the conference, President Kabbah spoke about the need for harmony and tolerance among the leaders and followers of the different religious faiths, especially those that worship and follow the commandments of the one monolithic God or Allah. He preached about the oneness of our faith and reminded the congregation that it is only through tolerance that the world can realize true peace and that it is only by peaceful coexistence can the peoples of the world create the conditions necessary for them to live and practise their different forms of worship.

He cited Sierra Leone as a country where religious tolerance has been practiced over the years, to the extent that both Christians and Muslims join in celebrating each others' important observances such as Christmas and Easter by Muslims and Eid-Ul-Fitr and other Eids and Islamic remembrances by Christians.

While in the Libyan Capital President Kabbah held discussions with Libyan leader, Moammar Qadaffi on a number of bilateral issues. The two leaders spoke about new Libyan investment in Sierra Leone and the prospect of a second ferry that is expected this month in order to ease movement between Freetown and Lungi and to other places like Bonthe. The Libyans who are already in discussion with petroleum officials here in Freetown indicated their preparedness to establish a petroleum depot in Freetown that could serve other countries in the sub-region, as well as meeting the local requirements for petroleum products.

After visiting a Libyan tractor manufacturing plant in Tripoli President Kabbah expressed interest in importing some twenty tractors with associated implements such as ploughs in order to promote agricultural development in Sierra Leone. Other matters of bilateral and multilateral interests were discussed, among them the need for President Kabbah to play a mediating role in settling certain matters that are of concern to the African Union.

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