Saturday, December 9, 2006

LONDON, England (JIS): Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P. J. Patterson chaired a meeting on Commonwealth membership, in London.

Patterson chaired the Committee on Commonwealth membership that focuses on issues concerning membership of the organisation.

The two-day meeting, which began on December 6, was held at the Commonwealth Secretariat's headquarters in Marlborough House, London.

The Committee was mandated by the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their summit in Malta last year. Its report will be presented at their next meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in 2007.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon said ahead of the meeting, that there was growing interest in the membership of the Commonwealth.

"The Commonwealth has not admitted any new member since 1995. With growing interest in the Commonwealth from many countries, including outstanding applications to join, it is time to look again at the issue of membership and how the Commonwealth interacts with non-members," he said.

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