Egyptian president elected NAM chairman

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was elected chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement  ( NAM) at its 15th NAM summit on Wednesday for a three-year term, Xinhua reported.
  
During the summit, Mubarak took over the NAM chairmanship from Cuban leader Raul Castro, whose country held the previous rotating chair of the movement.
  
The two-day NAM summit of heads of state or government kicked off here earlier in the day, seeking more international solidarity to tackle the global financial crisis and other international and regional issues and enhance the world's peace and development.
  
Founded in September 1961, NAM now groups 118 member states, 16 observer countries and 9 observer organizations.
  
The movement, which represents nearly two-thirds of UN member countries and comprises 55 percent of the world population, focuses on striving for interests of developing countries all over the world.