ARUSHA - The US delegation attending the ongoing 8th edition of the Leon H Sullivan summit in Arusha today paid a courtesy call to the offices of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The team is made up of influential US politicians, business and civil rights leaders including Ambassador Andrew Young, former US representative at the UN, Jendayi Frazer the Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, Dirk Kempthorne US secretary of the Interior and John Simon, Executive vice president of the Washington-based Overseas Private Investment. The delegation held discussions with Everard O’Donnell, the deputy Registrar of the ICTR.

Addressing the press in his office today the Spokesperson of the Tribunal, Roland Amoussouga, said the US delegation visited the office of the Registrar to acquaint themselves with trial proceedings; "they were given an overview of the achievements and challenges of the tribunal.”

The closed door meeting lasted for one and half hours and, according to Amoussouga, involved extensive exchanges about the work of the tribunal, its contribution to the Rwandan community, the East African Community and the world as a whole.

The Leon H Sullivan summit is a biennial summit that is hosted by an African country; the five-day summit in Arusha will focus on investment and development opportunities in Africa, especially in the sectors of tourism and infrastructure.

The Rwandan delegation at the summit is made up of ORTPN Director Rosette Rugamba and REMA boss, Rose Mukankomeje.

Opening the summit, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete described the Arusha summit as a platform on which Africans on the continent and people of African origin in the Diaspora were to discuss issues of mutual interests.

Inaugurated in 1991, the Leon Sullivan Summit has been focusing on poverty eradication through development in various fields.

All the previous seven summits were held in West and South African countries of Cote d’Ivoire (1991), Gabon (1993), Senegal (1995), Zimbabwe (1997), Ghana (1999) and Nigeria (2003 and 2006).

Leon H Sullivan was an African-American cleric and international humanitarian. He preached positive messages encouraging commitments and resources of the African Diaspora and friends of Africa to promote positive change in the world. He also championed self-help, social responsibility, economic empowerment, and human rights.

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