A regional conference will be held this week to find ways to curb the small arms trade in east Africa and the Horn region, organizers said Sunday.
The seven-member Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) will hold the conference Monday through Thursday with German funding.
According to official figures, about 100 million of the some 500 million light arms circulating illegally in the world are in Africa.
The east African and Horn regions have seen a border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which ended with a peace accord in December; an ongoing civil war in Sudan; and clan warfare in Somalia.
All four countries are IGAD members along with Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda -- ADDIS ABABA (AFP)
