Algeria Succeeds In “Reviewing” Granting Israel An Observer Status At AU

The recent decision of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat, to grant observer status to the Zionist entity at the continental organization will be included in the agenda of the next Executive Council of the African Union, a statement by the Commission said on Saturday.

Moussa Faki expressed his desire “to include the reservations expressed by the member states of the African Union regarding this decision within the agenda of the next Executive Council of the African Union”, the statement explained.

Last Tuesday, seven permanent delegates to the African Union in Addis Ababa objected to granting Israel the status of an observer member to the African body at the Commission of the Union.

A verbal note sent by the embassies of Algeria, Egypt, Comoros, Tunisia, Djibouti, Mauritania and Libya to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, read; “We would like to inform the Commission of our rejection of the step taken by its chairm$person regarding a sensitive political issue, which is to grant Israel an observer status at the African Union”.

The seven countries said in their memorandum: “For a long time, the decisions of the African Union have been clear, expressing its firm position in support of the Palestinian cause, and condemning Israel’s practices in all its forms against the brotherly Palestinian people, which contradicts the supreme interest of the Union, its values, ideals and decisions”.

These seven countries also expressed their concerns regarding this step, which contradicts the decisions of the member states and the criteria for granting observer status and the accreditation system to the organization approved by the Executive Council in July 2005.

Algeria was one of the first countries to respond to the decision of the African Commission, and confirmed through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the decision of the African Union, which was taken without prior extensive consultations with all member states, “does not have any capacity or ability to legitimize the practices and behaviours of the new observer which are completely incompatible with the values, principles and objectives enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union”.