The African Union (AU) has announced that it is working on the forthcoming organization of a national reconciliation conference on Libya on Sunday, February 19, after its 36th summit during which it maintained the suspension of four countries led by soldiers.
"We have brought together the different parties and we are working with them on the date and venue of the national conference" on Libya to be held "under the aegis of the African Union High Level Committee", chaired by the Congolese head of state Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the AU Commission, told AFP.
Libya has been embroiled in a major political crisis since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. The country is plagued by divisions between East and West and by foreign interference. Two rival governments are now vying for power, one based in Tripoli – and recognized by the UN –, the other in Sirte (center). The East and part of the South are de facto controlled by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
A double presidential and legislative election, initially scheduled for December 2021 to stabilize the country, has been postponed indefinitely, due to differences over the legal basis of the elections and the presence of controversial candidates.
Democracy must be "protected"
"A preparatory meeting took place a few weeks ago in Tripoli", the Libyan capital, said Mr. Faki, before concluding: "The departure of the mercenaries has been requested, (...) it is necessary that the Libyans talk to each other , I believe this is a prerequisite for going to elections in a peaceful country”.
The AU, which concluded its annual summit in the continental body's Addis Ababa on Sunday, reaffirmed its "zero tolerance" of "unconstitutional changes" of government and maintained the suspension of its ranks from Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Sudan. Mali, Guinea and Sudan were suspended by the African Union in 2021, Burkina Faso a year later, after the military took power.
Democracy must be "protected" and "take root", and the African Union "remains intransigent against any undemocratic accession to power", insisted Bankole Adeoye, the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and to safety. The summit was also marked Saturday by the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat, with the Jewish state accusing Iran of being behind this "serious" measure with the complicity of Algeria and South Africa.
In 2022, the AU had failed to close its discussions on the controversial accreditation of Israel as an observer country. Algeria and South Africa in particular argued against. Moussa Faki Mahamat said Sunday that accreditation was "suspended" for the time being and that the AU had "not invited Israeli officials" to the summit.
Accelerate the establishment of the free trade area
African leaders also announced the goal of accelerating the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), which is expected to bring together 1.3 billion people. All AU countries have joined, with the exception of Eritrea, but discussions are stumbling over the timetable for tariff reductions, particularly for the least developed countries.
The task ahead is "ambitious but achievable," said Azali Assoumani, president of the Comoros, a small Indian Ocean archipelago of some 850,000 people who took over the rotating AU presidency from Macky. Sall, the Senegalese head of state. Moussa Faki Mahamat said the agreement was "strategic", while pointing to the challenges, on a continent where 600 million people do not have access to electricity.
Speaking to the summit plenary on Saturday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced a "dysfunctional and unfair" international financial system that sees African countries borrowing money at "exorbitant" interest rates.
For Mr. Guterres, Africa is facing “enormous challenges (…) on almost all fronts”, suffering the consequences of crises for which it is in no way responsible. Antonio Guterres also announced that the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) would release $250 million to help people in need of humanitarian aid.
