Maravi

(HERALD, SAPA) SA boycotts Libya conference

SA boycotts Libya conference
Friday, 02 September 2011 02:00

Addis Ababa - South Africa disagrees with NATO's military intervention in Libya and would take no part in yesterday's conference in Paris dedicated to rebuilding the war-torn country, President Jacob Zuma said.

"We are not happy with the way UN resolution 1973 was implemented to allow air strikes on Libya," the South African leader told a news conference during a state visit to Norway.

"If any measure of military would be used, it was to help to protect people, as we understood things, who could have been killed," he said, explaining why South Africa, a temporary member of the UN Security Council, had voted in favour of the no-fly zone over Libya but opposed NATO air strikes.

"But instead of protecting, it became the bombing, cover for the other group to advance," he said.

The South African president has repeatedly criticised NATO for using the UN resolution to help the rebels against Muammar Gaddafi, and cautioned last week that the NATO-led use of force had undermined Africa's peace efforts.

Making his comments yesterday just hours before the opening of the Paris conference organised by France and Britain, who were the driving forces behind the air strikes, Zuma also reiterated that the Libyan reconstruction should be headed by the African Union and the UN.

Within the African Union framework, South Africa, which so far has refused to recognise the National Transitional Council (NTC), had attempted in vain to mediate peace between Gaddafi's ousted government and the rebels.

Last Saturday, the South African leader had called on all groups claiming authority over Libya to come together to bring peace and stability in the country.

"They must all come together and negotiate a peaceful process that will lead to the formation of an inclusive transitional government and democracy in Libya," Zuma said on his return from the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He chaired the meeting.

He also announced that the AU would not recognise the rebels as Libya's legitimate government arguing that the AU believed that its road map was still relevant for Libya.

"We need inclusivity, a situation where all groups involved in the conflict sit around the table and solve the problem together," he said.

Zuma said if an inclusive transitional government was formed, it would then occupy Libya's seat in the AU.

Article 30 of the Constitutive Act of the AU states that governments that come into power through unconstitutional means, would not be allowed to participate in the AU.
"We cannot act outside of that", Zuma said.

He added that the AU would continue to work with their Libyan counterparts and support efforts towards stabilising the situation in Libya.

It also encouraged a process leading to the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government.

The AU pledged to continue to work with the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the Organisation of the Islamic co-operation, the European Union and Nato to support Libyans, Zuma said.

Brazil, Russia, India and China, the developing world's emerging economies attended the Paris meeting where Russia recognised the National Transitional Council as Libya's legitimate governing authority.

- SAPA-The Herald.

Labels: JACOB ZUMA, LIBYA, NATO, NEOCOLONIALISM

posted by MrK @ 1:49 PM