African leaders, foreign ministers to begin to arrive here to take part in PSC launching

Addis Ababa, May 23(ENA)-- African heads of state and government as well as foreign ministers will arrive here beginning Sunday to take part in the official launching of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) on May 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

The AU Peace and Security Council will officially be launched here in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, the Press, Information and Documentation General Directorate told ENA on Sunday.

Ethiopia has been making preparations to colorfully host the launching of the PSC, it said.

Accordingly, Prime Minister of Lesotho as well as Foreign Ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana are expected to arrive here in Addis later on Sunday.

The Pan African Parliament, which is one of the principal bodies of the AU, was colorfully launched here in Addis a few months ago.

The launching of the parliament testifies to the fact that Africans coming together under the AU have been taking remarkable measures, it said.

The PSC will be launched as subsequent efforts that has already been commenced in the founding of the Pan African Parliament, it said.

The founding of the PSC signifies that the deep rooted problems in Africa would be addressed, it said.

The protocol establishing the PSC was endorsed and put into effect in December 2003 after it had been accepted in the 2002 Durban heads of state and government summit, it said.

The need to establishing the PSC arose from the urgency of uprooting the political instability in Africa which has been challenging the realization of the continent's development visions, it said.

It was thus found vital to instating strong democratic institutions and ensuring the supremacy of the law with a view to bringing about sustainable peace and stability in the continent, it said.

The resolve to establish the PSC is a great measure indicating the commitments of Africans for peace and stability as well as democracy and good governance, it said.

The PSC comprise 15 member states representing the five regions of Africa. Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Gabon have been elected for a three-year term and Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Libya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Ghana, Senegal and Togo for a two-year term.

A national committee has been making preparations to ensure colorfull and successful launching of the PSC and the upcoming AU heads of state and government summit, it indicated.

Ethiopia has been committed as ever for the prevalence of sustainable peace and stability in the entire Africa and for the speeding up of development in the continent, it said, adding Ethiopia with its significant and active participation in the process of peace in Burundi and Liberia proves its commitments and determination.

The Ethiopian army was selected for its strong sense of mission and efficiency, and it has lived up to the lofty responsibilities entrusted to it by African brothers, it said.

Ethiopia will continue providing constructive support to the PSC as it has always done to the Organization of African Unity, now to the AU as well as to the various peace and development institutions in Africa, it said.