NEWS ALERT:Crisis Group Announces New Board Members

The International Crisis Group is pleased to announce that 12 new members join Crisis Group's Board of Trustees from today, following their election at the Board meeting held in Toronto in April:

1.Nahum Barnea Chief Columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth,

2.Israel Samuel Berger Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group LLC; Former U.S. National Security Advisor

3.Sheila Coronel Toni Stabile Professor of Practice in Investigative Journalism and Director, Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, Columbia University, U.S.

4. Jan Egeland Director, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs; Former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

5. Mohamed ElBaradei Director-General Emeritus, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Nobel Peace Prize (2005)

6.Dewi Fortuna Anwar Director for Program and Research, The Habibie Center, Jakarta; Former Assistant Minister/State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Indonesia

7. Jean-Marie Guéhenno Arnold Saltzman Professor of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University; Former UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

8. Igor Ivanov Former Foreign Affairs Minister of the Russian Federation Lord (Mark)

9.Malloch-Brown Former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Deputy Secretary-General

10. Lalit Mansingh Former Foreign Secretary of India, Ambassador to the U.S. and High Commissioner to the UK

11. Benjamin Mkapa Former President of Tanzania

12, Javier Solana Former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, NATO Secretary-General and Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain

The newly constituted 45-member Board includes 15 members from North and South America, 15 from Western and Eastern Europe, nine from Africa and the Middle East and six from Asia and Australasia. It meets twice a year.

Crisis Group President Louise Arbour said, "We welcome our new members and their years of expertise and perspective in global affairs. Their addition continues a tradition of strong leadership and guidance that makes Crisis Group's board one of the most formidable of any non-governmental organisation in the world."

Crisis Group, with nearly 130 full-time staff members on five continents, works through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict. Its approach is grounded in field research, with teams of political analysts located within or close by countries at risk of outbreak, escalation or recurrence of violent conflict.

Based on information and assessments from the field, Crisis Group produces regular analytical reports containing practical recommendations targeted at key international decision-takers.