African issues have long suffered from either a lack of exposure in the mainstream media, marginalization and misrepresentation or from outright silencing. The case of the African Union’s intervention in Libya is a classic example of how African efforts go unreported or are twisted to suit a hostile agenda.
The Commission has been baffled by erroneous reports that the AU’s actions in Libya were motivated by a desire to protect Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s regime and that, following his downfall, the Union was delaying recognition of the new Libyan authorities in order to force the inclusion of the Libyan former leader’s supporters into the new Government.
There is nothing further from the truth than these assertions. They run contrary to the decisions taken by the relevant AU organs on the Libyan matter, as they do to the followup actions that have been taken by the Commission. It is against this background that I have, on behalf of the Commission, decided to address publicly the key issue of the AU’s intervention in Libya.
