South African President to hold discussions for Gadahfi's exit strategy

South African President Jacob Zuma

South African President Jacob Zuma will travel to Tripoli Monday to hold discussions with Libyan leader Muammar Al Gadahfi that would focus on an “exit strategy”.

“President Zuma, who is reported to be working with Turkey on the exit plan, will stop over in Tripoli in his capacity as a member of the African Union High Level Panel for the Resolution of the conflict in Libya,” the President said in a statement, and possibly meet the Libyan leader.

It will be President Zuma's second visit Tripoli during the conflict. He first called on the Libyan leader on April 10 as part of a high-ranking African Union delegation to broker a truce between Gadahfi and rebels, in a peace plan that fell through when the rebels insisted there would not be a deal if the Libyan leader does not step down.

N.A.T.O Fighter /Bomber



South Africa voted for the UN resolution authorizing the no-fly zone over Libya, but has since criticized NATO's bombing campaign in the country and said that it does not support regime change in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, leaders of the African Union are meeting today in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa in an extraordinary African Union summit on the situation in Libya. It is the continental body's first major step towards ending fighting in Libya that has been ongoing for over three months.

President Yoweri Museveni



Libya's government said it welcomed the call by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni for today's summit. Earlier this week Museveni condemned Western air strikes against Muammar Gadahfi's forces.

All along, it has been difficult for the AU to constitute a quorum as France, Britain and the US reportedly, successfully divided Africa in order to pre-empt the summit. However, the deliberative assembly mustered the requisite numbers last week, paving the way for the summit.

The meeting, considered to be a crucial one, was organized at the behest of incoming AU chairman president Teodore Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

President Teodore Obiang Nguema

Libya's government said it welcomed a call by Uganda's president to hold an extraordinary African Union summit on the situation in Libya, Libyan state television said on Thursday.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni condemned Western air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces earlier this week.