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Angola defends maintenance of AU nature |
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08:25, July 04, 2007 |
The Angolan government on Tuesday defended the maintenance of the current nature of the African Union (AU) as an association of sovereign states aiming at achieving common goals as outlined in its Constitutive Act.
In a letter presented at the ongoing ordinary summit of the AU heads of state and government in Ghanaian capital Accra by Angola's Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said "there has to be a clear definition of the role of each organ in the AU structure."
He reminded that each state has necessarily a program of government that is approved by the respective parliaments, adding that the AU must have its own minimum program, harmonizing it with other middle-and-long-term plans.
"The minister can hold concert meetings every two or three years in an alternating way and under the guidelines of the AU so as to avoid more than two meetings per year," he explained.
Dos Santos foresees that in relieving a little the structures of the AU Commission, funds from this organ can also be released to aid poorer states.
The Angolan president also suggests a constitution of an African Union Solidarity Fund designed to aid the poorer countries.
The minerals (gas and oil) exporting countries should contribute to this fund as long as they have the necessary financial income surplus from this transaction within a specific time limit, he said.
He also underscored that "it is necessary to negotiate the participation of foreign firms operating in Africa with a percentage to be defined for their annual net income, if it goes beyond 200 million U.S. dollars."
At the level of international issues, Dos Santos said the AU has to participate in all the negotiations and global processes, namely the concert meetings for the outlining of strategies to fight against terrorism, United Nations reforms, G8 meetings, matters relating to environment and global security, among others.
Source: Xinhua
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