SECRETARY-GENERAL WILL MEET WITH PRESIDENTS OF NIGERIA, CAMEROON IN GENEVA

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

At the invitation of the Secretary-General and in his presence, President Paul Biya of Cameroon and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria will meet on 31 January 2004 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, in the framework of the work of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, which is chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, Ahmedu Ould-Abdallah.

The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the progress achieved so far by the two countries, with the assistance of the United Nations, in the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of 10 October 2002 on the land and maritime boundary between both States, and to consider the remaining tasks within the mandate of the Mixed Commission.

The 31 January 2004 Summit is the third in a series of meetings between the Secretary-General and the two Heads of State designed to facilitate a peaceful settlement of the border issues between Cameroon and Nigeria.  The first one took place on 5 September 2002 in Paris, and the second was held on 15 November 2002 in Geneva.

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