During its 291st Meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council, the African Union (AU) failed to officially recognise the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Libya. It indicated that it would grant recognition only when an ‘all-inclusive transitional government’ is established in Libya. For this reason, the former Libyan representatives to the AU, who are now supporting the NTC, are not allowed a seat in the current AU meetings. This indicates that the AU is being pulled in two directions but not by equal forces: the need to ensure respect for the principle of total rejection of unconstitutional changes of government, on the one hand, and the necessity to recognize the realty on the ground in Libya on the other. For this reason, the issuance of two communiqués would have helped the AU to pass on two separate but logically related and correct messages.
ISS – News – How the AU Should Have Recognised the Libyan NTC