Baird Makes Sixth Visit to Africa

LONDON, United-Kingdom, December 10, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that he will travel to Morocco to attend the Friends of the Syrian People meeting on December 12, 2012, where he will announce new support for the people of Syria.

Baird will also meet with the newly established Syrian National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.

Baird will urge the new coalition to continue reaching out to all sectors of the Syrian opposition, especially those members of the opposition within Syria, and to all of Syria's diverse communities. The people of Syria look to the opposition to put forth a concrete vision for a post-Assad political transition.

Following the Friends of the Syrian People meeting, Baird will travel to Tunisia to attend the G-8-BMENA Forum for the Future. The forum provides an opportunity for dialogue among the governments of G-8 countries, the Arab world and civil society partners.

Baird will also visit the Massicault War Cemetery, where he will lay a wreath to honour the Canadian soldiers buried there following the defeat of an Axis force by a combined Allied force in 1943.