President Jacob Zuma today, 5 July 2011, returned from a working visit in Sochi, Russian Federation.
President Zuma attended talks that focused on tackling the Libyan security and political crisis, at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation, His Excellency President Dmitry Medvedev, in his capacity as a member of the African Union (AU)Ad hoc High Level Committee on Libya.
During this visit President Zuma met with President Medvedev and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary-General, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen to convey the Proposals for a Framework Agreement on a Political Solution to the challenges in Libya, agreed to at the African Union Summit in Equatorial Guinea last week.
“The meeting was very successful, and I am confident that it will contribute significantly to reaching a solution that will bring peace and stability in Libya. We reiterated our concerns about the misinterpretation of the UN Resolution. We emphasised the importance of starting negotiations urgently, and we requested NATO to assist persuade the Transitional National Council (TNC) to remove some of the preconditions that are making it hard or impossible to start with the negotiation process. We were also very pleased that President Medvedev assured us of his country’s support of the AU Road Map. We agree that the military solution is not the correct way to resolve problem”, President Zuma said.
The African Union Summit held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea last week reaffirmed its faith that a political solution is the only viable alternative to realise the aspirations of the Libyan people. The summit also reiterated that the AU Roadmap is integral to achieving peace.
The Framework Agreement includes elements of the AU Roadmap and is a more detailed plan charting the proposed way forward in Libya. The centrality of the role of the African Union in finding a solution to the crisis in Libya is core to this.
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Source: The Presidency
President Zuma returns from Russia
