Reuters
A former Seleka soldier holds his
weapon as he keeps watch from a moving vehicle at the Camp de Roux base
in Bangui, in Central African Republic. The conflict in CAR is expected
to feature on the AU's agenda at the Addis Ababa summit.
Addis Ababa - Conflict and humanitarian crises
rather than growing economies and development top the agenda for African
leaders this week, as they meet for a summit of the continental bloc.
Conflict in Central African Republic (CAR) and
South Sudan are key priorities, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros
Adhanom said, ahead of the two-day African Union meeting that opens on
Thursday.
The controversial role on the continent of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is also expected to be addressed.
“The fact that these humanitarian tragedies are
unfolding in the two countries at a time when we are talking about
'African renaissance' must be painful to all of us,” Tedros added,
speaking at a ministerial-level meeting on Monday.
“Unless we find (an) urgent solution, the
situation in these two countries will have serious implications for
peace and security in the region, and indeed the whole continent,” he
added.
Ethiopia, hosting the 54-member meeting of the AU in Addis Ababa, is also the current head of the bloc's rotating chair.
The meeting's official theme is “agriculture
and food security”, but nations will be bogged down yet again trying to
resolve conflict in fellow member states.
South Sudan's warring parties signed a fragile
ceasefire last week, but clashes between the government and rebels
continue, with thousands killed and over 800 000 forced from their homes
in bloodshed that has now lasted for six weeks.
Peace talks led by the regional East African
bloc IGAD adjourned after last week's ceasefire deal, with mediators
calling for the AU to play a greater role in the peace process.
“One of the issues for the AU this week is to
add some clarity to exactly what its role will be,” said Phil Clark,
politics lecturer at London's SOAS University.
“Pressure might need to be coming from an organ within the AU,” said Jason Mosley, from Britain's Chatham House think-tank.
The unfolding humanitarian disaster in CAR,
where a 5 200-strong AU force is deployed alongside 1 600 French
soldiers, will also dominate talks.
CAR descended into chaos 10 months ago after
rebels overthrew the government, sparking sectarian violence that has
uprooted a million people out of a population of 4.6 million.
Peter J. Pham, director of the Africa Centre at
the Atlantic Council, said the AU's slow response to the crisis in CAR
points to a deeper institutional weakness when it comes to rapidly
evolving conflicts.
“For all the talk - we've had it for well over a
decade - about an African standby force, the fact is that when
emergencies come up, it starts all over again, there is no standby
force,” he said, referring to AU's plans for an on-call peacekeeping
force, which has yet to materialise.
“There's very little concrete action being done,” he added.
Clark said the AU faces criticism in its response to crises, especially in South Sudan and CAR.
“There's a lot of concern at the moment that
the AU isn't showing sufficient leadership in resolving these types of
conflicts,” he said. “So I think it's those issues that are going to
loom large.”
Heads of state will gather at the gleaming
Chinese-built AU headquarters on Thursday and Friday, which comes eight
months after the bloc marked its 50th anniversary in May.
Leaders are also expected to focus on “Agenda
2063”, a 50-year road map for the AU that has been a major
pre-occupation for the head of the its executive council, Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma.
But Mosley pointed out that while long-term
planning and development schemes are important, the AU cannot ignore
ongoing conflict.
He suggested recent rhetoric of a “rising continent” had glossed over major problems.
“The whole 'Africa Rising' thing was a bit of a
swing too far, away from 'Africa is a continent that's continuing in
crisis',” said Mosley, adding that development and peace and security
issues should be tackled together.
Member states are also expected to discuss the
AU's relationship with the ICC court, after a special summit on the
topic last year.
The AU has accused the court of unfairly
targeting Africans and has said sitting heads of state should not be
tried, including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The one-year rotating chair of the AU,
currently led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, will
also be replaced. Mauritania's Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is tipped to take
the post.
Source- AFP
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