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Cape Town — President Jacob Zuma has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to attend the African Union (AU) high level committee on Libya yesterday.
The presidency said in statement that the meeting was convened by the Chairperson of the AU, President Idriss Deby Itno to review the evolution of the situation in Libya and the regional and international efforts aimed at addressing it.
Libya continued to reel under a deep political crisis, five years after the ousting and killing of Muammar Gaddafi.
Members of the AU high level committee on Libya included Algeria, the Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Mauritania (Chair), Niger, South Africa and Uganda.
Zuma “will also participate in the Second Extraordinary Summit of the Volunteering Nations of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC).
“The aim of this summit is to discuss the status of the ACIRC Force following the conduct of the Utulivu Africa I and II Command Post Exercises (CPX) and the verification of the pledged capabilities from May 2014 to April 2015,” the presidency said.
The ACIRC, which was established in 2013, consisted of the following volunteering nations: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Chad, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
It was introduced as an interim measure, pending the full operational capability of the African Standby Force (ASF), to provide the AU with a rapid military response capability with the specific objective of preventing emerging genocides, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
President Zuma was accompanied by Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo. — AFP
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