African Union chief ask West for dialogue on Libya
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union (AU) is planning to facilitate talks to help end the conflict in Libya between the government and rebel forces, it said on Friday.
"The AU action is ... aiming at facilitating dialogue between the Libyan parties on reforms to be launched to eliminate the root causes of the conflict," the union's commission chairman Jean Ping told a meeting in Addis Ababa, adding that the process should end with democratic elections.
It was the first statement by the AU, which had rejected any form of foreign intervention in the Libya crisis, since the U.N. Security Council imposed a no-fly zone last week and began air strikes on Libyan military targets.
"It is important that we agree on such an approach in order to ensure lasting peace, security and democracy in Libya," Ping told the meeting, attended by representatives from Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi's government, the opposition, the United States, France and the United Nations among others.
"We have to be forward-looking in our meeting and not split hairs with controversies relating to differences that have ruined our relationship in the past. We have to be pragmatic as to identifying the actions we can undertake together," he said.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Thursday there was no evidence Tripoli was complying with U.N. resolutions.
He said his special envoy to Libya had warned Gaddafi's government of possible "additional measures" if Libya failed to comply with its ceasefire demand.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union (AU) is planning to facilitate talks to help end the conflict in Libya between the government and rebel forces, it said on Friday.
It was the first statement by the AU, which had rejected any form of foreign intervention in the Libya crisis, since the U.N. Security Council imposed a no-fly zone last week and began air strikes on Libyan military targets.
"It is important that we agree on such an approach in order to ensure lasting peace, security and democracy in Libya," Ping told the meeting, attended by representatives from Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi's government, the opposition, the United States, France and the United Nations among others.
"We have to be forward-looking in our meeting and not split hairs with controversies relating to differences that have ruined our relationship in the past. We have to be pragmatic as to identifying the actions we can undertake together," he said.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Thursday there was no evidence Tripoli was complying with U.N. resolutions.
He said his special envoy to Libya had warned Gaddafi's government of possible "additional measures" if Libya failed to comply with its ceasefire demand.
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1 comment:
The AU has always reacted when their voice has no value. Some important members of this weak organisation called AU voted for this intervention but now they discover it is not necesary. I wonder if they knew it's real dimension and implication while voting. All the same, their voting for it, according to me, was a wise decision and that's why I wonder why they go back on their words now. Have they forgetten these revolutions are not africain but arabe revolutions? Do they ask themselves why they were not consulted as a body, as it was the case of the arabe league before taking the decision? The fact that Gaddaffi only thought of them when the arabe league abbandonned him has nothing to teach them? I wish them all the best but they are too weak to influence such an operation.
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