[10/مارس/2010]

SANA'A, March 10 ( Saba)- Electricity and Energy Minister Awadh al-Socotri returned home on Wednesday after participating in an international conference on access to civil nuclear energy.

Speaking to Saba, the Yemeni official said that the conference, held on March 8-9 in the French capital, Paris, dealt with several issues related to production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Yemen has suffered power shortages since the mid-1990s, with almost daily power cuts in major cities, especially during the summer.

The Paris conference addressed ways of promoting the peaceful and responsible use of nuclear power. It aimed to enable debate on every aspect of developing a nuclear programme and on ways of using bilateral and multilateral cooperation to help countries wishing to embark on such a course to fulfill their international obligations.

The Conference was organized in coordination with the IAEA and with the support of the OECD/NEA.

MB/YA
Saba