THE HON. DATO' SERI SYED HAMID ALBAR, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ATTENDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN SUPPORT OF LEBANON IN PARIS.

25 January 2007

PRESS RELEASE

THE HON. DATO? SERI SYED HAMID ALBAR, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ATTENDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

IN SUPPORT OF LEBANON IN PARIS

The Honourable Foreign Minister of Malaysia, Dato? Seri Syed Hamid Albar was in Paris on 25 January 2007 to attend the International Conference in Support of Lebanon.  The Foreign Minister was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank.

2.                  The Foreign Minister, in his statement at the Conference stated that Malaysia as the Chairman of the OIC Summit had taken many initiatives, including calling for a Special Meeting of the OIC to stop the war, supporting the UN Resolution 1701 and taken part in the UNIFIL peacekeeping force.

3.                   ?Now Paris III Meeting for us is important if we want to see Lebanon peaceful, secure, practicing democracy, cohesive and united.  Malaysia as a developing country has been supportive of efforts by Lebanon to rebuild the country,? he said. He further added that Malaysia would continue in its capacity building programmes for training and human capital development. The Statement by the Foreign Minister is attached.

4.     Following the Conference, the Ambassador of Malaysia to France, H.E. Dato? S. Thanarajasingam hosted a dinner in honour of the Honourable Foreign Minister.  Also present at the dinner were official from the French Foreign Ministry, leading French business officials and the Honorary Consul of Malaysia in Portugal.

5.      At the dinner, the Ambassador of Malaysia presented a cheque for RM2180 to the Foreign Minister, as part of the contribution by the officers and home-based staff of the Embassy of Malaysia and other Malaysian agencies in Paris for the collection drive by the Wisma Putra Sports Club for the flood victims in Malaysia. Earlier, the women?s association ?Perwakilan Paris? contributed RM5000 for the flood victims.

6.    The Foreign Minister left Paris the same evening.

Embassy of Malaysia

Paris.

January 25, 2007