For
immediate release
27
March 2007
PRESS
COMMUNIQUE - COMMUNIQUE PRESSE
NATO
PARLIAMENTARIANS TO VISIT BAHRAIN AND
KUWAIT
The Special Mediterranean Group (GSM) of the NATO PA will travel to
the Gulf from 28 March to 1 April on a fact-finding visit to
Bahrain and
Kuwait. Some
20 members of parliament from Europe and
Canada, led
by Assembly President José Lello
(Portugal)
and GSM Chairman Jean-Michel Boucheron
(France),
will hold high-level meetings in the two countries and discuss security in the
Gulf and the Middle
East, relations between Gulf countries and
NATO, as well as social and economic development in the region.
In Bahrain,
NATO legislators will meet with their counterparts from both chambers on 28-29
March. Meetings will be hosted by Shura Council Chairman Mr. Ali Bin Saleh Al-Saleh and
Council of RepresentativesÂ’ Chairman Mr. Khalifa Bin Ahmed
Al-Dhahrani. Members of the GSM will be also briefed by senior Bahraini
government officials.
In Kuwait, the visit will be hosted by National Assembly
Chairman Mr. Jassem Al-Khorafi. On 1 April, NATO parliamentarians
will hold meetings with members of the National Assembly as well as with senior
members of the newly formed Kuwaiti government.
Roundtables with representatives from local
civil society and media, diplomats and international organisations, will be
organised on 28 March in Bahrain and on 31 March in
Kuwait.
For
further information, please contact
e-mail:
Press@nato-pa.int
NATO
Parliamentary Assembly
Place
du Petit Sablon 3, 1000 Brussels,
Belgium
Tél:
(32) 2 513 28 65 | Fax: (32) 2 514 18 47 |
website:
http:// www.nato-pa.int
|
Background
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, founded
in 1955 with a Brussels-based secretariat,
brings
together 248 national parliamentarians from the 26 NATO countries.
In
addition, 15 associate delegations from Central and
Eastern
Europe,
Ukraine
and Russia;
4 Mediterranean
Associate delegations: Morocco,
Algeria,
Jordan,
Israel
and 7 Parliamentary Observer delegations participate in
Assembly activities and
meetings.