In this refutal of the rich nations’ hegemony and the organised and spontaneous participation of agitators at Seattle, the closure of the conference round almost an hour before schedule and the open admission of the developed nations that it had failed to bulldoze its way as it had thought it might be able to will go a long way in the assertion of the trade rights of the poor. The inconclusive meeting will be resumed at the WTO headquarters of Geneva after Christmas.

More than 10,000 agitators have been jailed and detained by the police after spontaneous agitations broke out against the onesided clauses of the proposed WTO agreement. It may be recalled that the inaugural ceremony of the conference had been cancelled after spontaneous demonstrations in Seattle.

The US administration of Bill Clinton is most angry with the turn of events as this is said to be the worst-ever reverse that he has faced during his last seven years as President on the global trade front. Officials of the WTO, obviously echoing the US views, said that this was not what had been planned in the interests of the world order and that petty political quarters of the various nations had led to the abandonment of the charter.