The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM ) nations launched a far-reaching reactivation process in their week-long Havana Summit which concluded in Havana Sunday morning, vowing to close ranks in the face of new threats in the contemporary world. The need to preserve, revitalize, and strengthen the NAM's role in world affairs is one of the top themes in the 14th summit of the association of 118 nations.

"Today we can say with absolute confidence that NAM is more necessary than ever, and that this association is the essential forum to discuss our main problems and continue fighting so that our just demands are heard in the unfair and unequal world we are living in," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in the opening speech of the senior officials' meeting prior to the NAM Heads of States Conference.

The NAM member countries have stressed the need to give new impetus and focus to the Movement, created during the Cold War to counter the hegemony of the superpowers. Now, they say, they must work against a growing hegemony of the United States.

They also called for multilateralism, the UN reform and social economic development. The NAM also determined to defend the right of the peoples to peace, sovereignty and self-determination; oppose the use of war or the threat of its use to solve international problems; recognize the right of each country to its own economic, social and political system and preserve its culture and the UN Charter.

The Movement defended the right of all countries to peacefully use nuclear energy, including the right to enrich uranium for producing electricity. It also rejected all terrorism against civilian populations.

They also strongly condemned the acts of aggression against Lebanon and violations committed by the Israeli government, while expressing solidarity and support for the people and government of Lebanon, and respect for its territorial integrity.

A statement, issued by the NAM summit, called for the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from within the Gaza Strip and urged Israel to immediately release all detained Palestinian officials.

During the 14th summit, Cuban leader Fidel Castro was elected as president of the NAM. The summit also decided that the next NAM summit would be held in Egypt in 2009.

About 3,000 delegates from more than 100 countries, including 56 heads of state or government and 90 foreign ministers, as well as other dignitaries and senior officials attended the Havana summit.

Two new members joined the Movement: Haiti, and St.Kitts and Nevis, bringing the Movement's membership to 118 nations, almost two-thirds of the member states of the United Nations.

Source: Xinhua