Cairo  - Delegates from the 118 countries that make up the Non-Aligned Movement on Tuesday gathered in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh ahead of the movement's two-day summit opening Wednesday.

In what has been billed as the largest assembly of nations outside the UN General Assembly, 55 world leaders will gather in Egypt for the movement's 15th triennial summit under a banner of "international solidarity for peace and development."

Leadership of the movement will pass from Cuba to Egypt for the next three years.

"Egypt will lead the Non-Aligned Movement in tackling all political and social issues raised by the international community, in particular disarmament and human rights," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in remarks run by Egypt's official MENA news agency.

The slogan of this year's summit "was inspired by one of the most important principles of Egyptian diplomacy: peace for development," he said.

Foreign ministers and international experts have been meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh ahead of the summit since the weekend to discuss, among other things, the security of the world's food supply and climate change.

The summit is expected to produce declarations on both topics, and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and to honour Nelson Mandela.

At the last Non-Aligned Movement Summit, in Havana in 2006, Malaysia passed leadership of the movement to Cuba.

The movement was founded in 1955 by former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, and former Yugoslav president Josip Tito.

Participating countries said they did not wish to be drawn into the Cold War, but vowed, in a 1979 declaration, to support each other in their "struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression."(dpa)