国际英语新闻：NAM ministerial meeting concludes after approving draft documents

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 100 foreign ministers or their representatives of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit closed their two-day meeting here on Tuesday after adopting various draft documents.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said at a press conference after the meeting that the draft documents, including the main "Draft Final Document," would be submitted to the NAM summit on Wednesday morning.

Staff members do the preparation work at the lobby of the summit hall of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on July 14, 2009. The 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit will kick off on Wednesday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city.

    He said some 55 presidents would attend the summit, which is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city.

    It is the second time that Egypt, one of the movement's founders, hosts a NAM summit. The country held one in 1964.

    The ministerial meeting was devoted to the general debate under the summit's theme of International Solidarity for Peace and Development as well as the impact and causes of the world financial crisis.

A worker cleans the fences in the summit hall of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on July 14, 2009.

The meeting also adopted The Sharm El Sheikh Summit Declaration and another draft declaration condemning the decades-long economic and trade embargo imposed on Cuba as well as the draft declaration to make July 18 of every year a Nelson Mandela day, among other documents.

    During the meeting, Aboul Gheit called for solidarity, saying "without solidarity, there can be no development and stability throughout the world."

    "It is incumbent upon us to look ahead towards the future, seeking a better tomorrow for our people and being aware of the increasing difficulties and challenges our contemporary world faces," he said.

    He also appealed for the establishment of a new international order, which should be founded upon plurality and the democratization of international relations.

    Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, whose country holds the rotating NAM presidency from 2006 to 2009, said "serious challenges are threatening the future of our nations, and the NAM countries have responsibility of finding proposals and concerted actions to effectively respond to them."

    Egypt would take over the presidency at the upcoming NAM summit.

    Rodriguez also blamed the Western hegemony for causing the unfair international order that hurts developing countries' interests.

    Founded in September 1961, NAM now groups 118 member states, 16 observer countries and 9 observer organizations.

    The movement, which represents nearly two-thirds of UN member countries and comprises 55 percent of the world population, focuses on striving for interests of developing countries all over the world.