Zapatero to attend UN meeting in Majorca

SPAIN'S Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is to attend the “Alliance of Civilisations” summit to be held here in Majorca on 26 November, a conference which will bring together world leaders in an attempt to bridge the social and religious divide between East and West. The prime minister's diary over the coming weeks will include hectic international negotiations which will take him to amongst other places, London, Paris and Rome. On 26 October, an engagement at Number 10 Downing Street will see him dining with Tony Blair and other European socialist leaders. The occasion precedes the European Union summit which is to be held the following day at Hampton Court.
The November date will see him here on the Island to attend the first high-level group meeting set up by the secretary of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. As an expression of his support for the Alliance of Civilisations project, the event will also be attended by the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayip Erdogan, who is a co-sponsor of the venture. After the meeting in Palma, Zapatero will attend a Euromediterranean conference in Barcelona on 27 and 28 November which has been organised under the joint auspices of Spain and Britain. The latter currently holds the presidency of the European Union.