Buenos Aires, October 16, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva argued today that there is an urgent need to create the Mercosur Parliament, in order to accelerate the process of integration in the bloc. "We shall be conferring legitimacy on the Mercosur for integration. We want it (the Parliament) to be an official instrument to stimulate development in the bloc," the President told members of the Argentinean National Congress.

Lula affirmed that Brazil and Argentina need to seek peaceful solutions to the conflicts that threaten the stability of Latin-American countries. (DAS)