President Rajapaksa to arrive at Havana later today [Thursday, September 14, 2006 – 11.55 GMT]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who left the country to attend the 14^th sessions of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is expected to arrive at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana later today. (September 14, 2006).   

President Rajapaksa is scheduled to attend the discussion of the G15 countries the same afternoon. The G15 Group was formed after the Non-Aligned Movement’s sessions in Cairo and now it consists of 17 member nations. Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Venezuela and Zimbabwe are the members.

Sri Lanka also belongs to the pioneer members of this organization which was set up to discuss problems and policies of the developing countries and to draw the attention of the developed countries to them.  The President is also expected to attend a dinner party hosted by the President of Algeria after the G15 summit.

The inaugural session of the NAM 14^th assembly will commence tomorrow (15^th) after welcoming the Heads of State in the forenoon. The Non- Aligned Movement was formed with the inaugural meeting held in Bandung on April 18, 1956. Its membership was increased to 23 nations by 1961. Its present membership is 116. The objective of the NAM is to fulfill the tasks that the international community failed to achieve in attainment of development goals and realization of peace overcoming various challenges and consolidating political and economic freedoms of the Asian, African and Latin American countries.

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Last Updated Date: September 14, 2006 -11.55 GMT