From: Nowa Omoigui <nowa_o@yahoo.com>
Date: 2 June 2011 08:48
Subject: [OurWorldView] Africa's division over Libya's crisis worries UN
To: defsec@egroups.com
Guardian
Africa's division over Libya's crisis worries UN
Thursday, 02 June 2011 00:00
From Laolu Akande, New York News - National
UNITED Nations officials are concerned that while the situation in Libya becomes dire by the day, there is no agreement among African Union (AU) leaders on how to bring about a political solution.
Addressing members of the Security Council on Tuesday in New York, the UN Under Secretary-General, Lynn Pascoe and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on the matter, Abdel Ilah al-Khatib, reported that nonetheless "representatives from the African Union and other stakeholders had been making every effort to narrow those differences and to begin a credible negotiating process."
According to a news release of the council meeting issued yesterday, the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, "had attended the Extraordinary Summit of the Assembly of the African Union on May 25, which extensively discussed the crisis."
The statement said the leaders of the AU "attending the meeting were strongly divided" on the issue, but the final statement noted that only a political solution to the conflict would make it possible to promote sustainable peace in Libya and fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people.
That meeting, however, also resolved in favour of deploying of AU observers and monitors to Libya, and to dispatch a ministerial delegation to New York to interact with the Security Council and to undertake practical steps to engage concerned partners on the AU road map.
The UN Under Secretary-General, B. Lynn Pascoe, noted that the Secretary-General had been "in almost daily discussions with the Libyan authorities and world leaders on the situation in the North African country."
Pascoe added that at the G8 Summit last week, the Secretary-General had held a meeting with Libyan Foreign Minister, Abdelati al-Obeidi, as well as close confidants of Gaddafi, where he " reaffirmed that his special envoy was ready to conduct indirect talks with both sides and had emphasized the need for serious, detailed dialogue and a cessation of hostilities by both sides."
According to the UN news release, at the meeting, the Secretary-General, Libya's Foreign Minister and his delegation "had noted that they were willing to work with the special envoy, and had asked the United Nations and the African Union to declare a ceasefire that would stop the NATO air strikes and then lead to elections."
In addition, it was disclosed that Libya's Foreign Minister "proposed that an election be organised by the African Union and United Nations, and added that Col. Gaddafi would respect the will of the people at the conclusion of such a poll."
Pascoe said that at the recent Group of 8 Summit in Deauville, the Secretary-General had called for increased support for humanitarian assistance for the affected population in Libya and in neighbouring countries.
Similarly, the UN leader had met with many leaders, including the Chairperson of the African Union, Jean Ping, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Amre Moussa. In their final declaration, the G8 leaders had, among other things, demanded the immediate cessation of the use of violence against civilians by the Libyan regime forces, as well as the end of all incitement to hostility and violence against the civilian population.
According to Pascoe, up till Monday, there were other regional meetings, "including a gathering yesterday in Cairo chaired by the outgoing Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and attended by the special envoy, which had focused on coordinating positions to end the conflict."
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