Conference of French-speaking Countries Entitled 'Dialogue of Civilizations' - 2002-10-18

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the President of Algeria, inaugurated the conference of French-speaking countries, consisting of fifty-five nations, in the capital of Lebanon on Friday, stating that Muslim extremists represent only a small fraction of the world's Muslims. This conference, the ninth of its kind, is being held under heavy security and includes prime ministers and heads of state from forty-four French-speaking countries, along with thousands of delegates and journalists. The theme of this year's conference is 'Dialogue of Civilizations.' In his speech, the Algerian president expressed hope that the French language, once the language of colonialism in Africa, has now become a language of brotherhood and dialogue. He added that despite the solidarity shown by his country and others around the world towards the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, it is still necessary to remind Americans that the extremists responsible for these acts are merely a small minority of Muslims. Mr. Bouteflika told attendees that Algeria hopes for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis, as well as the Middle East crisis, which he referred to as a powder keg. Participants spent Friday afternoon behind closed doors to elect a successor to the current Secretary-General of the conference, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.