North Africa: African Union Warns of Regional Crisis

Argaw Ashine

26 March 2011

Addis Abeba — The African Union has warned of a wider regional crisis unless the international community acts fast, to find a lasting solution to the Libya crisis.

Africa Union chief Jean Ping said the current situation is posing a regional security threat as well as offering an opportunity to armed groups in the region. African Union together with the UN, EU, US and Arab League started a crucial meeting yesterday morning on Libya with an aim of seeking an immediate ceasefire.

The Libyan government has sent its delegation to Addis Ababa AU headquarters to discuss a ceasefire and political reform in Libya. However until midday, no one from the rebel side had appeared for the meeting. AU has invited both the rebel leaders and Libyan government officials for talks.

Four ministers from Libyan government led by Mr Mohamed Zowya, the Speaker of the Libyan congress (parliament) appeared for the meeting despite the no-fly zone restrictions against Libya. Ping underlined the current situation as very alarming and serious, saying the AU wants to broker a lasting peaceful solution for the Libyan people.

The agenda of the meeting includes secession of hostility, access for humanitarian aid, protection of migrant workers and adoption and implementation of political reform.

According to diplomatic sources, the AU wants immediate dialogue between the Libyan government and the rebels. The AU has rejected the idea of foreign intervention and called for an end to the strikes. However, the coalition forces continue air raid against Libya forces.

Some African leaders including Rwanda’s Paul Kagame have supported military action against Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Three days ago, AU also received 265,000 Euro support from the European Union for its effort to advance AU capability in conflict resolution.

Meanwhile, Western allies have secured a deal to put the entire military campaign against Col. Gaddafi under Nato command by next week, UK and French sources told The Guardian. The deal appeared to end days of infighting among Western allies. At the end of a four-day meeting of Nato ambassadors in Brussels, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary general, said Nato had agreed to take command of the Libya mission from the Americans.

The agreement emerged from phone calls between William Hague, the foreign secretary, Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, following rancorous attacks from the Turkish leadership on French ambitions to lead the anti-Gaddafi war effort.

The agreement also gives political oversight of the military action to a committee of the international coalition in the campaign. Since the no-fly zone and air attacks on Libya began last Saturday by France, Washington has been in charge of operations, but is eager to surrender the role.

Under the scheme agreed, the transfer to Nato will take place by Tuesday, when the parties to the coalition against Gaddafi gather in London for a special “contact group” conference. French sources said leaders of the Benghazi-based Libyan rebels would be in London to attend.

War council

The conference will consist of two meetings: a war council made up of the main governments taking part in the military action, as well as a broader assembly including Arab and African countries concerned to Libya’s future.

Ms Clinton welcomed the Nato decision to take command of the Libyan operations and police the no-fly zone. She said she expected that Nato would eventually take over responsibility for protecting civilians, enforcing an arms embargo and supporting the humanitarian mission. “We are taking the next step. We have agreed along with our Nato allies to transition command and control for the no-fly zone over Libya to Nato. All 28 allies have also now authorised military authorities to develop an operations plan for Nato to take on the broader civilian protection mission,” she said.

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