CAPE TOWN, Nov 2 (AFP) - About 300 world religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama, are expected in Cape Town next month to debate problems facing the planet in the new millennium, an organiser said Tuesday.

The third Parliament of the World's Religions, from December 1-8, will bring together leaders from a range of faiths, including Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism and African spiritual churches.

About 8,000 delegates are expected at the meeting, due to be opened by President Thabo Mbeki, organiser Jane Kennedy told AFP.

The Vatican will send an official representative to the meeting, which will also be addressed by the president of the Muslim World Congress, Abdullah Omar Nasseef from Saudi Arabia.

The focus of the parliament is a "A Call to Our Guiding Institutions" to "reassess and redefine their roles in order to assure a just, peaceful and sustainable future," according to a draft programme.

These institutions include relgion, government, education, industry, commerce, science and civil society.

Other issues to be debated are the HIV/AIDS crisis, equity between the northern and southern hemispheres, and the morality of capitalism.

South Africa was chosen for the parliament because it represents hope, having overcome oppressive apartheid rule in 1994, said Kennedy. "There was a feeling that, if we can do it, everyone can do it," she said.

Parallel cultural offerings include Gospel choirs, Hindu, African and Native American dance performances, a jazz concert featuring the music of Duke Ellington, as well as performances by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie, the Lithuanian Boys' Choir and US film star Goldie Hawn.

There will also be a prayer ceremony for world peace on Cape Town's Table Mountain.

The parliament first met in 1893 in Chicago. Its centennial celebration was also held in Chicago and attracted about 8,000 people, where it was decided to hold the meeting every five years, Kennedy said.

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