Expert opinion

	03.12.06 Victoria Panova G8 research group, University of Toronto, Director for Russia
	03.12.06 Mona Bricke German NGO Forum Environment and Development
	03.12.06 Nigel Martin Montreal International Rorum (FIM)
	02.12.06 John Kirton Head of G8 Research Group, University of Toronto
	02.12.06 Regina Gunter Head of the WWF Germany

News

Chirac to ask Putin to invite NEPAD to G8 summit

French President Jacques Chirac will ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to invite the NEPAD (the New Partnership for Africa's Development) to the meeting of the G8 to be held in Saint Petersburg in July, Chirac's office said on Tuesday.

Chirac hoped that the African issues would be listed on the top of the timetable of the G8 (Group of Eight Industrialized Nations) summit in July and he has confirmed his counterparts that he planned to suggest President Putin that NEPAD joins the summit, Chirac's spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said after Chirac had lunch with eight African heads of state.

The NEPAD attended the G8 meeting in Genoa in 2001.

The eight African leaders are Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal), Azali Assoumani (Comoro), Teodoro Obiang Nguema (Equatorial Guinea), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Marc Ravalomanana (Madagascar), Amadou Toumani Toure (Mali), Joao Bernardo Vieira (Guinea Bissau) and Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania).

They came to Paris to attend the ceremony at the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) headquarters to issue the 2005 Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize to Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade "for his contribution to democracy in his country and for his mediation in political crises and conflicts in Africa."

Created in 1989, the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize is named after the first president of Cote d'Ivoire and consists of a cheque for 122,000 euros (about 156,892 dollars), a peace diploma and a gold medal.

Expert opinion

	02.12.06 Halter Marek Le College de France
	02.12.06 Olivier Giscard d’Estaing COPAM, France
	02.12.06 Mika Ohbayashi Institute for Sustainable Energy Poliсy
	02.12.06 Bill Pace World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy
	01.12.06 Peter I. Hajnal Toronto University, G8 Research Group