Essa, I agree fully with your views that we should not "turn a deaf ear"...and .."we as Africans need to be mindful of collaborations and ties we get into." My last posting was about refusing to turn a deaf ear, and an earlier posting of mine, concerning Gambia's arrears to the UN, suggested the continued rationalization of our membership to International Organisations with one of the benchmarks being return on investment (excuse my language, I am a capitalist). I have always advocated for Africa to influence the global agenda that affects Africa by taking the lead. I have expressed the same view on the Mozambican floods by citing the role paid by Malawi, South Africa, Ghana and Botwana among other African states. So, I really do not see difference of opinion on all counts. Regional isolation is what I will not subscribe to in this global environment of ours. Once again, I thank Ms. Hernlund for drawing my attention to the activities on the American scene on wide-ranging issues including the Debt Relief Initiative. Sidi Sanneh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------