© Odd Andersen/Getty Images/AFP
Algerian FM Ramtane Lamamra • African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra has chastized the chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission for defending his decision last month to grant Israel observer status at the African bloc, saying
insistence on the measure will eventually result in the breakup of the regional organization.
Lamamra, in an interview with Algeria's
al-Fadjr daily newspaper on Saturday, said:
"Moussa Faki Mahamat sought to defend himself [in the face of growing condemnations over the step] and accordingly made the latest remarks. He is unaware of the consequences that the decision will cause."
He said Faki's comments will not dissuade South Africa, Tunisia, Eritrea, Senegal, Tanzania, Niger, Comoros, Gabon, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Mali and Seychelles from expelling Israel from the 55-member African Union.
Comment: Legitimate concern, fear of a paradigm shift or an internal power play - the
African Union has much to sort out regarding the re-entry of Israel into their midsts, given its loyalty to Palestine - a case of Buyer Beware!
Algeria has established itself as Israel's number one enemy in Africa since the announcement of normalizations with Arab countries. Algeria's reaction to Israel's nomination was twofold, the first through a statement from the Foreign Affairs Department and the second after having managed to convince a few countries.
On July 25, Algerian diplomacy published a statement reacting to Israel's return as an observer to the African Union (AU), a function that the country has already had in the past, notably under the former name OAU, i.e. before 2002. Algerian Foreign Ministry said in its statement:
"The recent decision of the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union to accept a new observer, who falls under his administrative powers, would not affect the constant and effective support of the continental organization for the just Palestinian cause, as well as its commitment to embody the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to establish their independent state, Jerusalem their capital.
"This decision, which was taken without prior extensive consultations with all member states, has no power to legitimize the practices and behavior of the new observer, which are totally contrary to the values, principles and objectives enshrined in the Constitution. of the African Union.
"It should also be recalled that the working systems of the African Union do not give any possibility to the 87 observer states outside Africa to influence the positions of the continental organization, which the exclusive prerogative of the member states."
Fearing that Israel might influence or destabilize its hegemony within the continental organization, Ramtane Lamamra has managed to garner the support of 6 countries according to the accounts, like his ally South Africa for all time.
According to other estimates, after several days of haggling with the countries, their number would have reached 9 according to some sources and 14 for others, and would include countries like Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt, Niger , the Comoros and Djibouti.
In a letter sent on August 2 to the President of the Commission, 7 countries including Algeria criticized the Commissioner for not having respected "the aims and principles" of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which was "Respected by his predecessors" and consider that this position harms the interests of the African Union.
With this sling led by Algeria against the presence of Israel as an observer member, it is above all a war launched against the Hebrew State and the translation of a fear of its presence on African soil.
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