Salim ordered to convene regional conference on small arms

In a drive to curtail the proliferation of small arms in Africa, the continent's leaders ordered Salim to convene a regional conference on the problem, PANA reported.

Out of this meeting, they said, should come recommendations for solving problems related to the use, transfer and manufacture of small arms. The African leaders, meeting at their 35th summit, which ended in Algiers on Wednesday, proposed a preparatory meeting of experts to produce a joint African position on the issue before the regional conference due in 2000.

The leaders also want the OAU, Africa's foremost political body, to seek support from the relevant United Nations institutions. The summit welcomed the moratorium on small arms by West African States, the destruction of small weapons surpluses and obsolete guns in South Africa and the suppression of illegal arms in Mozambique.