FM leaves for Addis Ababa to participate in AU meeting on Libya

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry left here on Tuesday for Addis Ababa to take part in the joint meeting of the African Union (AU) Ad-Hoc High-Level Committee on Libya and the group of Libya-neighboring countries.

The Egyptian foreign minister will attend the meeting, to be held at the AU premises, on behalf of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. The meeting is held under the auspices of Chadian President Idriss Deby, the current AU president.

The AU Ad-Hoc High-Level Committee on Libya groups South Africa, Gabon, Ethiopia, Niger, Mauritania, while the group of Libya neighbors include Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Algeria, Niger and Tunisia. 

Egypt's participation in the meeting aims at expounding the Egyptian vision to settle the conflict in Libya, affirming the importance of Sukheirat agreement and supporting all efforts to realize stability and rebuild Libyan foundations at the Arab, African and international levels.

AU attempted to mediate in the early stages of the 2011 Libyan civil war and formed an ad hoc committee of five presidents (Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, South African President Jacob Zuma, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni) to broker a truce. However, the beginning of the NATO-led military intervention in March 2011 prevented the committee from traveling to Libya to meet with Libyan leader and former head of the AU until 2010 Muammar Gaddafi.

AU again renewed its efforts to deal with the situation in Libya and issued a resolution during the AU Summit in 2016 to form a new high-level presidential committee grouping the five countries mentioned before. The committee held its first meeting on September 21, 2016 on the fringe of the UN General Assembly meetings and with the participation of Libya neighbors group.

Source: MENA