By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 8 November 2o16:
African leaders review Libya crisis at Addis Ababa mini-summit: “there is no military solution” says AU chairman, Chad’s Idriss Deby
Despite insistence from the head of the African Union Commission, Ms Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, that the “dire situation in Libya cannot be allowed to continue”, African leaders attending a mini-summit on the Libyan crisis held in the Ethiopian capital today were given little encouragement that the a breakthrough was on the horizon.
Chairing the meeting, Chadian President Idriss Deby who is the AU’s current head said that the AU could not support any military intervention in Libya by anyone hoping to try and normalise the situation there. Instead, international efforts to promote peace had to be followed and respected.
The mini-summit was convened by Deby to assess the situation and international efforts to resolve it.
African leaders attending also included presidents Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was there as the host, Also present were UN Special Envoy to Libya Martin Kobler, AU Special Envoy to Libya and former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete and the AU’s Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui.
Representing Libya was Presidency Council member Musa Koni.
Despite the Chadian president’s stated opposition to military intervention in Libya, there are unconfirmed but persistent reports that he has been involved in the supply of trained foreign fighters, mainly Sudanese, for Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter and the Libyan National Army.
Two days ago, the Presidency Council’s acting defence minister, Al-Mahdi Al-Barghathi, claimed that the forces which seized the central oil crescent region during the late summer were foreign mercenaries.
