President Kabbah Arrives Istanbul Via Abidjan, Meets Madeleine Albright
By Yusuf Alghali

President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah arrived in Istanbul, capital of the Turkish Republic Sunday 11th April 2004 ahead of the opening of the first four day Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World at the Conference Centre of the Conrad Hotel in Istanbul.

The Congress of Democrats was developed by a group of political leaders from mainly Muslim countries and is supported by organisations and governments from all over the world, including the UNDP, the Turkish Democracy Foundation and the governments of Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Yemen and the United States.

Delegates to the Congress from all over the world will highlight the compatibility of democracy and Islam by discussing their direct experiences with democratic governance and their countries' common commitment to multiparty elections, independent legislatures, women's political participation and an active civil society. As a political leader with experience in democratic governance, President Kabbah has been asked to participate in the congress and work with fellow political leaders to build on the progress already made in the Islamic World, including the Sierra Leone government's successful partnership with the local Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone, (IRCSL) in negotiating peace with the erstwhile Revolutionary United Front, (RUF) rebels.

Apart from delivering a keynote address to the congress at the Conference Centre of the Conrad Hotel in Istanbul, President Kabbah will also participate in working sessions and plenary discussions to highlight progress already being made as well as discuss next steps on issues such as: Learning from recent advances in democratic governance, Implementing democratic legal systems compatible with Islamic law, Strengthening relationships between civil society and political organisations, Empowering women and young people to shape the future of their countries among others.

At a preliminary meeting with the former US Secretary of State and chairperson of the congress' co host National Democratic Institute (NDI), Madeleine Albright at the Conrad Hotel Monday 12th April 2004, President Kabbah made a brief statement about his administration's ongoing efforts at rebuilding the nation's local governance structure to ensure the participation of women and youths in national development. He also spoke of specific programmes aimed at reversing the widespread discrimination against girl children in pursuing formal education and touched on the uniquely high level of religious tolerance and inter-religious collaboration in Sierra Leone. Trade Minister Dr. Kadi Sesay and Sierra Leone's Ambassador to Iran and Turkey Haja Alarie Cole also spoke of the growing influence of the nation's womenfolk in national policy and decision-making processes.

Earlier, during his brief stopover in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, the Head of State and his Ivorian counterpart Mr. Laurent Gbagbo had discussions pertaining to peace, stability and security in their respective countries as well as in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub region at large. The two leaders reaffirmed their strong individual commitments to maintaining stability and development in the region and hoped to continue their positive collaboration in that regard.

Prior to returning to Freetown, President Kabbah and his delegation, which includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Momodu Koroma and Trade and Industry Minister Dr. Kadi Sesay, will visit the headquarters of the European Union in Belgium, Brussels where they will be holding meetings geared towards expediting EU-sponsored road infrastructure projects in Sierra Leone.

At a recent meeting with the visiting Irish Minister, Mr. Tom Kitts in Freetown, the President had urged the government of Ireland, which currently holds the bi-annually rotating Presidency of the European Union, to help remove the bureaucratic bottlenecks currently impeding the early realisation of the objectives of the provincial road development projects.

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