Zimbabwe
leader Robert Mugabe: A major figure in the African
Union,
Mugabe and A.U. colleagues say that to avert unwanted
Western
influence in Libya, Muammar Qaddafi must be allowed
to
stay in office, but that he should be pushed to adopt reforms.
The Herald, Zimbabwe
African Union Backs
Qaddafi to Prevent 'Western Influence'
According to this news item from The Herald, mouthpiece of the ruling Zanu-PF Party, the African Union has decided that while the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi is 'authoritarian,' to force him from office would invite Western influence and chaos. It has also decided to back Ivory Coast President-elect Alassane Ouattara in his bid to unseat Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down after his electoral defeat last December.
Ivory Coast despot Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave office after an election defeat last December, is rejecting an African Union decision that he step down. Recent reports suggest forces loyal to him have embarked on a 'killing spree' of those who back his opponent, Alassane
Ouattara.
Meeting in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia on Thursday, the A.U. Peace and Security Council expressed its
preference that Mr. Ouattara form a unity government with his rival, Mr. Laurent Gbagbo.
[Zimbabwe] President Robert Mugabe and other African
leaders that make up the 15-nation Council, met to hear the recommendations of a
five-nation panel of senior officials, established to look into the Ivory Coast
issue. It then deliberated on the crisis in Libya, and issued a statement
saying that the nation is now in a state of civil war, and that therefore, it should
be treated as such.
Speaking at Harare
International Airport after returning from Addis Ababa, President Mugabe said yesterday
that the continent's leaders agreed to stand by Mr. Ouattara, following a contentious
presidential election last year.
"The recommendation is
that Ouattara should be sworn in (as president) … You are aware that the Gbagbo
side still objects … but there is room to incorporate Gbagbo," President
Mugabe said. Gbagbo didn't attend the meeting, while Ouattara did.
He reportedly said he couldn't
leave Ivory Coast for fear that the domestic situation in the country would further
deteriorate. The incumbent Ivorian president reportedly created a no-fly zone
in a move observers say is calculated to ensure that Ouattara doesn't have an
easy return home.
He sent former
Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan, who chairs Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front
party, to represent him in Addis Ababa and reject the Peace and Security Council's
resolution backing Ouattara.
N'Guessan told AFP:
"The panel made a proposal that we categorically rejected. It brought nothing
to the table that we didn't already know … If the initiative doesn't yield
relevant, irrefutable and sufficiently convincing proposals, we fear that the
African Union will contribute to completing the coup that began in 2002 and has
evolved into an electoral coup with the latest presidential election."
This was a reference to the
attempted coup of 2002 which triggered civil war in the Ivory Coast.
The debate on Libya, where
the situation has become dire since civilians got their hands on guns, occupied
the Council into the early hours of Thursday morning. Libyan leader Qaddafi
wasn't present, but sent a delegation that made what diplomatic sources called
"a lackluster presentation" to the Council.
Despite that, the Council recognized
that the situation in Libya is ripe for undue Western interference and hence the
need to back Qaddafi. It emphasized that this was an opportune time to induce
the Libyan strongman to institute political reforms and allow greater freedom
of expression.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
President Mugabe said,
"We wanted to hear the truth about the situation. We took exception with
interference by Western powers … and we absolutely reject their intervention. Africa
will send a five-member delegation of heads of state [leaders from South Africa, Uganda, Mauritania, Congo and Mali] and experts to make
recommendations about what steps the African Union should take."
President Mugabe said that
the Libyan political system had been described as "authoritarian,"
and the A.U. should use the current state of affairs to prod Qaddafi into
reform. However, the Zimbabwean leader said that this was no excuse for the
West to get involved without an A.U. request.
"Intrinsically,
geographically, culturally, Libya is African ... and African solutions are
needed," Mugabe said.
Diplomatic sources said President
Mugabe and South African President Jacob Zuma agreed that Libya's domestic
politics were undesirable, but that permitting the kind of chaos that a change in
government would entail would have dire repercussions for the rest of Africa.
The A.U. chairman, Equatorial
Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is reported to have said that
the matter isn't about liking or disliking Qaddafi. One source said, "Mbasogo said that while
today it is Qaddafi, who knows where such anarchy would erupt next."
In January, the Council established
another five-member panel, this one to look into the situation in the Ivory
Coast and come up with recommendations for the A.U. in an effort to help resolve
the crisis. This came after the A.U. lost patience with Kenya Prime Minister
Raila Odinga, who at the 16th Ordinary Session of the A.U. Assembly in January,
broke normal procedure to present his report on the Ivory Coast to the media. The
chairman of the A.U. commission, Dr. Jean Ping, had to have security personnel stop
Odinga. The Council subsequently tasked A.U. Chairman, Mauritania President
Abdel Ould Aziz, to lead a panel to come up with recommendations.
The other members of the
panel were South Africa, Tanzania, Chad and Burkina Faso. The full Peace and
Security Council has three representatives from each of Africa's five regions,
with Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia representing Southern Africa.
