The African Union (AU) High-Level Panel for Egypt has arrived in Cairo for its third visit since last July. The three-man delegation is expected to meet with interim government officials and other political stakeholders.
The panel, led by former Malian President Alpha Oumar Konaré, was formed following the suspension of Egypt from the AU Peace and Security Council in the days following the ouster of Mohamed Morsi. The union viewed the change of government in Egypt as “unconstitutional”, which goes against the bloc’s charter.
“Egypt is proud of its role as a founding member of the… African Union and we will continue our support for the issues of the African continent,” said Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman. He said that maintaining relations with Africa is a foreign policy priority for Egypt and was confident that Egypt has the support of many African states in its bid to be reinstated to the union.
The panel “affirmed the correctness” of the decision in its report, which was presented to the Peace and Security Council in January. Over their two visits the panel met with high-level interim government members as well as Morsi and opposition leaders.
The panel, which also includes former President of Botswana Festus Gontebanye Mogae and former Prime Minister of Djibouti Dileita Mohamed Dileita, will be in Egypt until 9 April.
The foreign ministry has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the suspension and also deployed envoys around Africa to deliver this message and explain the situation in Egypt.
