French-Speaking Nations’ Summit Opens in Quebec
The second summit of French-speaking nations was launched on Wednesday with pleas for a new economic order in Africa and Lebanese President Amin Gemayel urging support for a Middle East peace conference.
Officially billed as the Quebec Summit, the meeting has attracted heads of state and government leaders from 41 countries who are members of La Francophonie, often described as a kind of French commonwealth.
Most members are one-time French colonies in Africa but Lebanon, Egypt, Vietnam, Haiti and Belgium are also included. They held their first summit in February, 1986, in Paris.
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