ADDIS ABABA: The African Union (AU) has suspended a debate on whether to withdraw Israel’s accreditation, according to media reports.
“The Israel question has been suspended for now and instead there will be a committee set up to study the issue,” one of the diplomats told media on the closing day of the AU’s annual summit in Addis Ababa. The Jerusalem Post reported the vote to revoke Israel’s observer status at the AU was deferred for a year.
The committee is meant to review Israel’s status and submit its conclusion to next year’s AU Executive Council, the Jerusalem Post said. The AU Executive Council convened in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, with heads of state in attendance.
Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat received credentials from Israel’s ambassador last July, granting Israel observer status at the AU.
Israel previously held observer status at the predecessor Organization of African Unity until 2002, when the organization was dissolved and became the AU.
Israel’s foreign ministry had said the acceptance to the AU as an observer is in the interest of Israel, the AU and of its members which will allow increased cooperation between Israel and African states. –Agencies
But several African countries have expressed objection to the decision ever since, citing the human rights of Palestinian people in Israel.
Meanwhile, The African Union (AU) has condemned a recent “wave” of coups that has seen an unprecedented number of member states suspended from the bloc, a senior official said on Sunday.
“Every African leader in the assembly has condemned unequivocally … the wave of unconstitutional changes of government,” Bankole Adeoye, head of the AU’s security body, told a press conference on the closing day of the 55-member body’s annual summit.
The African Union (AU) Commission has decided to suspend Burkina Faso’s participation in AU events following the military takeover, which saw the removal of President Marc Roch Kabore from office.
“Council decides in line w/ the relevant AU instruments, to suspend the participation of #BurkinaFaso in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country,” read a Twitter post from the AU Commission’s Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department.
On January 28, the Economic Community of West African States also suspended the membership of Burkina Faso over the military coup.
The military of Burkina Faso announced on January 24 that they had seized power and put an end to the functions of President Kabore.
Last week, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, head of the military, made a national address and promised a return to normal constitutional order within a limited time frame and called for support from the international community.
