Non-Aligned Movement Conference Starts in Bali, Indonesia

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Ministers from 118 countries of the group Non-Aligned Movement gather in Indonesia for a three day conference. The group was founded in the 1950s during the Cold War, but countries that did not want to take a side with Russia or the United States.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the 16th ministerial meeting at the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Bali on Wednesday.

Yudhoyono looks to a future without nuclear weapons.

[Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian President]:
"We work very hard to advance a vision of a world of zero nuclear weapons. We advance multilateralism, and push for reforms at the United Nations."

The conference marks 50 years of the group, which also goes by the name of NAM. It was founded during the Cold War by countries that did not want to be aligned either with the Soviet Union or the United States.

It has struggled to find a role since the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union's collapse.

Ministers will discuss developing world issues as well as NAM's contribution over the next 50 years.

The meeting is also expected to address the deadlock in talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

NAM has 118 member states, with 15 observer states, representing two-thirds of the members of the United Nations and half of the world's population.

The 118 are composed of 53 states in Africa, 38 in Asia, 1 in Europe and 26 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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