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AU summit ...my take

Summit of the despots taking place in what used to be the smiling coast of west Africa (the Gambia) is going smoothly except for a few malapropos here and there. Case in point is Libya's Ghaddafi. He proposed the perennial cry of Pan Africanist ...the uniting of African states as reported by the point in this story:

The 7th Edition of the Banjul AU Summit is expected to discuss, among other things, the creation of a United States of Africaproposed by Libyan Leader Muammar El Gaddafi.

However Mr. Ghaddafi didn't find it important to attend the opening session of the summit he is purportedly in Banjul to attend. Angolapress reports that:


Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Kadhafi was absent from the hall at the opening session of the 7th African Union (AU) summit of heads of states and governments, which began in Banjul Saturday, it was observed by PANA correspondents in Banjul.

How do you expect people to respect and debate your proposal if you refused to be in the same room with them. The Libyan delegation is covering for their quintessential dictator by saying that his absence is a protest against a "possible" decision to withdraw African troops from Sudan. Personally I believe that would be catastrophic on the part of the AU unless the United Nations decides to take over their mission. However the operative word here is "possible". The decision hasn't been made. Ghaddafi will serve his position well if he sticks around and argue his point. Walking out in protest from a room full of despots will not help you much especially if the issue you are protesting over is still under review and open to debate. No?
Not to be left out of the charade and never one to pass out a chance to lashed out at the west and the united states for that matter, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Ahmadinejad were at their demagogic best in this anglopress piece.

5 Comments:

  1. Cynthia said...
    I like Chavez. The Bush Regime doesn't like him because he wants what is best for his people.

    Here is an interesting article that shows why the Bush Clan doesn't like Chavez.

    http://www.veninfo.org/news/07-06pro.html
    Cynthia said...
    One more thing...

    "Long live Arabia and long live Iran in freedom and equality," Chavez said, stealing a glance at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is also attending the summit.

    When Chavez made the following statement, I think he was taking a jab at the Iranian President. Chavez is aware that the House of Saud financially supported Saddam's war with Iran. He's also aware that it is Saudi Arabia who is controlling or limiting the amount of money Iran can make from its oil reserve.

    I have to say, I love Chavez's humor.
    ousman ceesay said...
    Chavez and his ilk talk a good game but they don't deliver for the people. The rhetoric coming out of their mouths isn't matched by deeds. It is easy to like them from afar, but it is a different ball game if you have to endure their rein.

    He criticize bush and the west, but squash any kind of dissent in his own backyard.
    BRE said...
    From the little that I have read about this most recent AU Summit, it was nearly a complete failure. The issues surrounding the ongoing genocide in Darfur and other parts of the Sudan and the negotiations with Sudan's Omar al-Bashir to allow UN peacekeepers into his country was a failure, several issues re: good governance practices in sub-Saharan Africa ie. term limits for presidents and prime ministers was a wash. Kofi Annan looked dumbfounded and as frustrated as ever on TV News reports about the Summit in his unending quest to get solid cooperation from Africa's leaders on issues which are critical to the survival of the continent's various people.

    I think that Senegal's President Wade recently declared NEPAD is not working (BBC News), NEPAD having not built even a single road in sub-Saharan Africa since the inception of the program. That's pretty heavy coming from one of the original founders of NEPAD and a defacto key national leader in Africa today. Of course, the G8 Summit of 2005 and the subsequent debt relief to some heavily-indebted African countries could be seen as a triumph for NEPAD and the AU, oder?

    The fact that Iran's lunatic President Ahmadinejad was at the AU Summit espousing his special brand of garbage about the injustice of the slave trade vs. the holocaust legacy in Europe was for me as a descendent of African slaves VERY DISTURBING. Then to have Hugo (The Bull) Chavez of Venezuela at the AU Summit as well bantering his anti-American rhetoric to a rapt audience of Africa's leaders was just as ominous. The only fool missing was Kim Jong Il of North Korea.

    Who invited all of these guys to the AU Summit in Banjul, and what does their presence at the Summit say about the future of Africa and particularly about the future of sub-Saharan Africa's relationships with Western democracies?

    Muammar Ghaddafi (The Colonel) of Libya probably didn't want to attend the AU Summit in Banjul due to pressing business engagements with new European and American investors. Since when has Ghaddafi been interested in the welfare of black Africans (ref: Darfur, Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, etc.)?
    Cynthia said...
    Ousman, that is not true. Chavez is doing what you say you want the Gambian Prez to do. He removed around $250 million from the U.S. and invested it back into Venezuela. He has also told banks to set aside 20% of its profits for small business. The 80% mixed (African/indigenous) population he has re-routed monies for them to build houses, buy land, etc. This man is walking the talk. He also bailed out Ecuador and Argentina from the strangling clutches of the U.S. This is why the U.S. hates him. He's responsible for making sure the elections are fair. This is something even the U.S. is not doing. Africa/Africans would do well to enter into an agreement with South America.

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