PRESS STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE NAIROBI DIALOGUE ON THE EASTERN DEM. REP. OF CONGO

Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, H. E. Olusegun Obasanjo

15 January 2009 – The third session of the Nairobi Dialogue on the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo was adjourned today until 25 January, 2009 by the Session Chair, Co-Mediator and African Union Special Envoy H. E. Benjamin Mkapa.

In his closing remarks to the two delegations, Mr. Mkapa recalled that “when we gathered on 7 January this year, to commence proceedings on the Third Session, we were acutely aware of the challenges and obstacles that lay ahead.”

“I am very pleased to note that we have made remarkable progress by adopting the ground rules that will guide the noble task of substantive dialogue to resolve the crisis”, he added.

The former President of Tanzania, on his own behalf and that of his Co-Mediator, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, H. E. Olusegun Obasanjo, saluted the commitment shown by the delegates and urged them to sustain the momentum by consulting with their Principals and prepare the next phase of the Nairobi Dialogue.

SESG Obasanjo is in New York where he will brief the UN Security Council on the Nairobi Dialogue process today.

For more information

Contact
Nasser Ega-Musa, Spokesman
Tel: 0735-232-539; Email: Nasser.Ega-Musa@unon.org
or
Jens Laerke, Deputy Spokesman
Tel: 0722-513-503; Email: Laerke@un.org