Pretoria - The Libyan crisis and its developments will be at the centre of the meeting of the African Union High Level Committee on Libya in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday.
President Jacob Zuma will represent South Africa at the talks to be chaired by the chairperson of the African Union and Chad President, Idriss Déby Itno.
“The high-level meeting has been convened to review the evolution of the situation in Libya and related regional and international efforts aimed at addressing it and to agree on a way forward,” South Africa’s Presidency said on Monday.
The members of the AU High Level Committee of Heads of State and Government on the situation in Libya are Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Mauritania, Niger, South Africa and Uganda, while the AU representative for Libya is the former President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete.
The North African country has been beset by chaos since NATO-backed forces overthrew long-serving ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011.
The country remains divided politically between two governments and parliaments, despite a UN-brokered peace agreement signed by the country's political rivals in December 2015.
Concerns have also been raised over the rise of Islamist militancy there.
In recent years, the country has been a key springboard for migrants heading for Europe.
President Zuma will also participate in the Second Extraordinary Summit of the Volunteering Nations of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC).
The aim of the summit is to discuss the status of the ACIRC Force following the conduct of the UTULIVU AFRICA I and II Command Post Exercises (CPX) and the verification of the pledged capabilities from May 2014 to April 2015, the Presidency said.
The ACIRC was established in 2013 and consists of volunteering nations such as Algeria, Angola, Benin, Chad, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
It was introduced as an interim measure, pending the full operational capability of the African Standby Force (ASF), to provide the AU with a rapid military response capability, with the specific objective of preventing emerging genocides, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
President Zuma is accompanied by the Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane; Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and State Security David Mahlobo. - SAnews.gov.za
