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Libya wants African leaders to discuss air strikes

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:31 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Says Libya intervention a dangerous precedent

* AU says Libya sliding into a stalemate

* Gaddafi influential in the AU bloc

* Rebels say he must leave power

(Updates with rebels' comments, para 10)

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, April 26 (Reuters) - Libya called on the African Union on Tuesday to hold an emergency summit meeting to discuss how to deal with western air strikes.

Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi accused the west of aiming "to punish Africa through Libya" and to "steal its wealth and colonise it again."

He told the Peace and Security Council of the 53-nation AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa the organisation should invoke a mutual defence pact in response to western air strikes.

"My delegation proposes the holding as soon as possible of an extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Union," he said.

"This would "identify the ways that enable our continent to mobilise capabilities to face the external forces which aggress against us."

The AU, in which Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is one of the most influential members, wielding both financial and political clout, has been trying to broker a peaceful solution to the Libyan conflict.

Obeidi and rebels have been meeting separately with AU officials in Addis Ababa to discuss an end to the war.

The AU has proposed a solution that calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities followed by a transitional period and political dialogue.

The rebels rejected the plan earlier this month, saying any settlement must include the departure of Gaddafi and his sons.

One of the two representatives for the rebels at the Addis Ababa talks said they would continue to engage with the AU to "find a solution that will lead to the aspirations of the Libyan people, including the departure of the regime."

"How can you have peace with him (Gaddafi) around? He is not a man of peace, he is a man of war and violence," Al Zubedi Abdalla, a representative of Libya's opposition, told reporters after talks with AU officials.

Earlier on Tuesday an AU official accused Western nations of undermining its efforts to find a solution with its air strikes.

"I would like to point out that the pursuit of other agendas in Libya, by non-African actors, has had an impact on the implementation of the AU roadmap," Ramtane Lamamra, AU's Commissioner for Peace and Security, told AU foreign ministers.

"Attempts have been made to marginalise an African solution to the crisis, specifically the timely implementation of the AU roadmap in a way that is fully consistent with and complementary to U.N. Security Council resolutions."

Lamamra said the intervention by the coalition and NATO had failed to provide resolution of the crisis.

"The imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya and aerial bombardment by the coalition, and now by NATO, have not brought a solution to the crisis," Lamamra said.

"In fact, the military situation on the ground seems to be sliding into a stalemate."

The AU does not have a good track record in brokering peace deals, having failed recently to end conflicts or disputes in Somalia, Madagascar and Ivory Coast. (Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Myra MacDonald)