Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—The African Union will consider reinstating Egypt at its next summit, after suspending Cairo’s membership in the organization following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab said on Friday.
Mahlab is currently on a visit to Equatorial Guinea, whose President Teodoro Obiang Nguema announced on Friday that he would invite Egypt’s next president to attend the African Union summit scheduled to take place in the central African state in June.
The African Union also announced that it will send a diplomatic mission made up of parliamentarians, journalists and civil rights activists to monitor the forthcoming presidential elections scheduled for May 26–27.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The participation of the African Union delegation in monitoring the elections comes following intensive contacts made by Egyptian officials” with the African Union.
“Countries like Nigeria and South Africa have begun to look at the situation in Egypt in a more positive manner. This is a view that is being increasingly held by more and more African states, and so we are waiting for the African Union to take a different view in the coming period,” he said.
Cairo’s military-backed interim authorities have carried out a strong diplomatic campaign since Mursi’s ouster last year, hoping to mend Egypt’s severed diplomatic ties.
“There are positive steps about the restoration of Egypt’s activities within the African Union . . . in addition to improving relations with the US, particularly after Washington appointed a new ambassador to Cairo,” the spokesman said.
In other diplomatic news, the White House on Thursday appointed career diplomat Stephen Beecroft as its new ambassador to Egypt. The post had been empty since August, when former ambassador Anne Patterson returned to Washington to take up an assistant secretary of state post. Beecroft’s appointment comes following several weeks of visits by high-level Egyptian officials to Washington.
Reinstatement to AU requires that they have to be committed to the mutual dev’t of AU nations.
With the construction of Nile DAM which benefits Africa & interconnects the nations along the line, the officials there get nervous. They say all options are on table (including confrontation) as if we do not know them.
So, they need to show their commitment to the mutual development of Black Africa rather than sticking to Old Colonial Era agreements.
Each people/Nation along has right to use the water resource in a manner that benefits all . Cooperation & mutual thrust is needed on the Egyptian side. The otherwise option will have a zero sum effect. As a result of the very existence of Ethiopia, Egypt gets & continue to get the water.
If they (Egyptians) try to threat the Nile Dam in Ethiopia , then the Aswan Dam in Egypt will also be under threat. So, this will lead to Zero sum.
So, each nation /people has a clear right over its resource.