South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Egypt for an emergency African Union Troika Summit to discuss the political situation in Sudan where protestors have taken to the streets to demand regime change and lack of security in Libya where fighting has erupted over the control of Tripoli.
Host President and AU Chairman Abdel Fatah el-Sisi called for the emergency summit attended by his counterparts from South Africa, Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, Congo and Somalia.
On 11 April Sudan’s Defence Minister General Ahmed Awad ibn Auf, who is heading Sudan under a military transition council since he succeeded detained former president Omar el-Bashir, has suspended that country’s constitution and imposed a two-year transition period to be overseen by the military leading to elections.
This arrangement for the transition period, however, has been rejected by the Sudan Professionals Association, who have led the four months of protests in that country.
The SPA want the military to leave power to civilian leadership, with the military only included in the transition team as members — and not as leaders as is the current scenario.
This stand-off is high on the agenda in Cairo when el-Sisi and his guests have sat down to trash out a solution for Sudan following a breakdown of talks between the SPA and the military’s transition team.
The situation in Libya has also deteriorated recently, with the eastern-based army of Gen. Khalifa Hafter and his so-called Libyan National Army having launched a military campaign to take over the capital Tripoli, where the UN-backed government is based.
Hafter wants to control the capital before final peace talks mediated by the UN between his forces and the UN-recognised Tripoli regime can take place.
NM/jn/APA