Egypt Seeks to Restore African Union Membership

Egyptian diplomats are fanning out in an effort to restore the country’s membership in the African Union, which was suspended two days after the military pushed out the government of Mohamed Morsi. There are some signs that the 53-member organization is keen to have Egypt back in the fold as well. Voice of America’s Marthe ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Egyptian diplomats are fanning out in an effort to restore the country's membership in the African Union, which was suspended two days after the military pushed out the government of Mohamed Morsi. There are some signs that the 53-member organization is keen to have Egypt back in the fold as well. Voice of America's Marthe van der Wolf reports:

Egyptian diplomats are fanning out in an effort to restore the country’s membership in the African Union, which was suspended two days after the military pushed out the government of Mohamed Morsi. There are some signs that the 53-member organization is keen to have Egypt back in the fold as well. Voice of America’s Marthe van der Wolf reports:

Egypt says it feels its suspension from the African Union, after the military overthrew former president Mohamed Morsi early this month, should be reconsidered.

Special envoy Mona Omar said Egypt regrets the AU decision. She said, "We came to explain and to say that the revolution that took place in Egypt was a popular uprising, nothing of an unconstitutional change, and that we are expecting our brothers and sisters in Africa and the African Union really to support us"…

AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said Egypt has agreed to receive a panel to investigate the situation.

"We have reached an understanding that they will go, they will meet, the come back, and inform the Peace and Security [Council] what they found, what they heard, and we will take it from there," said Dlamini-Zuma. "But we are very keen that Egypt should speedily come back to the family of the AU as an active member."

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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