Arab League chief urges cooperation to resolve Libyan crisis

CAIRO – 9 February 2020: Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday urged cooperation among all parties, including the United Nations, to resolve the Libyan crisis, during his speech at the 33rd African Union summit at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The Egyptian diplomat affirmed the need to resolve the Libyan issue without foreign interference. He also called for enhancing cooperation to support Somalia and Comoros.

The summit, during which Egypt is set to hand over the presidency of the African Union to South Africa, was attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Aboul Gheit hailed Sisi’s achievements for the AU during Egypt’s chairmanship of the AU last year, including launching the African Continental Free Trade Area, adopting an integrated vision for the institutional reform of the AU and establishing the pillars of the 2063 agenda.

Sisi on Saturday urged the member states of the African Union to join the African Peer-Review Mechanism (APRM), a self-monitoring mechanism, during his speech at the APRM Forum of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa.

Sisi urged the member states to effectively participate in the APRM to open new realms for the AU to benefit from the accumulated national experience of its member states, in a way that would accelerate the implementation of its developmental agenda 2063 and its sustainable development 2030.

The president affirmed Egypt’s full support to the APRM mechanism and its belief that the member states would also back it to contribute to achieving prosperity and comprehensive development.