Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Ouagadougou, 12 September2001
N° 6

"The 106th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, keenly aware of the emotion felt throughout the world after the terrorist acts perpetrated in the United States, has decided to reorganise its agenda", said Dr Najma Heptulla, President of the IPU Council.

An emergency supplementary item concerning the event which took place yesterday in the United States has been included on the agenda of the Ouagadougou meeting, and a resolution on the subject will be put to the Conference.

Mr Mélégué Traoré, President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, who is chairing the proceedings of the 106th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, said: "the delegates immediately decided by consensus to set up a committee to prepare a draft resolution on the supplementary item" concerning the Contribution of parliaments to dealing with the continuing tragic situation in the occupied Arab territories, to the provision of international observers, and to the protection of the Arab Palestinian people, especially unarmed civilians, submitted by the Kuwaiti delegation (on behalf of the Arab Group) and put on the Conference agenda last Monday.

The drafting committee, composed of the following countries: Algeria, Argentina, Benin, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, France, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Mexico, Morocco and Poland, will submit the draft resolution to the committee on Friday morning.

Taking account of the circumstances, the proceedings of the 106th Inter-Parliamentary Conference will close on Friday evening.

Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 142 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has a Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York.