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General Assembly head on regional tour

    ABIDJAN

    The President of the UN General Assembly, Dr Han Seung-Soo, ended a two-day visit to Sierra Leone at the weekend on the second leg of a four-nation West African tour, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reported.

    Speaking to journalists on Saturday in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, Seung-Soo said he had made the issue of African development one of the key priorities of his presidency. Maintaining peace and achieving economic development in Africa was "a serious challenge to the UN and the international community," he added.

    He said that the aim of his visit to Sierra Leone was to "observe what UNAMSIL was doing in this country." He visited UNAMSIL troops deployed in the northern towns of Makeni and Magburaka and at Mile 91 to familiarise himself with the work of the peacekeepers on the ground, UNAMSIL reported.

    At the news conference Seung-Soo said he hoped that elections due in May would be "held in a peaceful and fair manner, by the continued efforts of UNAMSIL, in close cooperation with the government of Sierra Leone, both in political and economic fields."

    During his visit, Seung-Soo met with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Dumbuya, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Oluyemi Adeniji, UNAMSIL officials and members of the diplomatic corps.

    After leaving Sierra Leone on Sunday, Seung-Soo travelled to The Gambia and was due to arrive in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on Tuesday to address the 14-16 April New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) conference that will discuss poverty eradication and sustainable growth and development in Africa by focusing on issues including good governance, democracy, infrastructure, education, health, information and communication technology.

    Seung-Soo visited Ghana on the first leg of the tour.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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