The world’s developing nations vowed yesterday to push debt relief for Africa, saying rich countries and lenders must boost efforts to pull the world’s poorest continent out of its economic spiral.

The Non-Aligned Movement, whose 115 members form one of the largest international groups aside from the United Nations, said it would urge more aid and investment for Africa as well as more African input into decisions on their economic affairs.

“The Movement supports enhanced debt relief for Highly Indebted Poor Countries, but seeks quicker delivery of this debt relief,” said one ambassador from the Caribbean.

“Debt relief and Western market access for African goods are key components and will be included in the official declaration of the minister’s meeting,” the ambassador added.

African countries owe the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations hundreds of billions of dollars and debtrepayments are crippling them.

The G8 has agreed to extend its Highly Indebted Poor Countries debt relief programme through 2006, but poor countries say this is not enough to pull them out of poverty. By taking up the issue of debt relief for Africa, the Non-Aligned Movement is staking out new diplomatic territory for itself. The group was formed in 1961 as a third way between the Cold War rivalry of Western and Communist blocs.

While some Asian members of the group have seen rapid economic growth, many of the 53 African nations which belong to it remain among the poorest countries in the world.

According to the Jubilee Debt Campaign, which lobbies for debt cancellation, poor countries around the world owe more than $ 200 billion in loans taken in the 1960s and 1970s, funds which were often channelled into the private purses of corrupt leaders.

Foreign ministers meeting in the South African port of Durban expected to reiterate support for the UN as the forum for agreeing global policy on the US led “war on terror”.

“The movement will repeat its condemnation of all unilateral military action without proper authorization from the UN Security Council,” said one ambassador from North Africa.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Eyptian radio on Tuesday his country would press for an international conference to determine how to fight terrorism. Egypt also wants the movement to declare the Middle East a nuclear-free zone.

The movement’s ministerial committee on Palestine discussed that conflict yesterday and issued a statement likely to condemn Israel’s security wall and to demand its dismantling, one movement official said.

<B>Manoah Esipisu</B>