Accra, July 3, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor leaves Accra on Monday night for London en route to Brazil for a three-day official visit at the invitation of the Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva with whom he would hold bilateral discussions.

A statement signed in Accra by Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President and Presidential Spokesman, said while in London, President Kufuor would open the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE) to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, While in Brazil, President Kufuor and his host would visit the Brazilian Congress as well as the Federal Supreme Tribunal. He would also attend the plenary session of the Second Conference of Intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora (CIAD) to be held in Salvador.

The Conference, which is under the theme, "The Diaspora and Africa Renaissance", is a follow-up to the first one held in Dakar, Senegal, in October 2004.

The statement said the Conference would be attended by internationally reputed persons such as former South African President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka and top executives of some international organisations. The CIAD aims at reviving and harnessing the contribution of African intellectuals on the continent and in the Diaspora and broaden mutual understanding as well as foster greater cooperation for development between Africa and the Diaspora.

President Kufuor would be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Minister Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and senior government officials.