COTONOU, March 17 (Reuters) – Leaders of eight African
Union countries failed on Saturday to break a deadlock over the
leadership of the 54-member body, highlighting divisions that
have repeatedly stymied its decision-making.
The talks in the Benin port of Cotonou were called after
neither of the two front-runners for the AU commission chairman
post – former South African foreign minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma and incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon – managed to
secure an outright majority during a voting contest in January.
“Consultations will continue … notably (between) Gabon and
South Africa,” said a statement issued after the Cotonou talks
by leaders of those two countries plus officials from Chad,
Ivory Coast, Algeria, Ethiopia, Benin and Angola.
They said a further round of talks would be scheduled to try
and break the deadlock before a summit in Malawi around the
middle of the year. Ping’s mandate has been extended until then.
The commission is the AU secretariat’s top administrative
unit and the chairman its public face.
South African President Jacob Zuma’s failure to secure a
majority for Dlamini-Zuma, his ex-wife, after Ping’s much
criticised tenure was a blow to South Africa, which regards
itself as an emerging power championing African causes, but is
seen by some other states as out of touch with global affairs.
The AU was widely criticised as being behind the curve on
events leading up to the Libyan war, particularly among the many
Africans who were uncomfortable with the idea of Western war
planes bombing African territory.
(Reporting by Samuel Elijah; Writing by Mark John; Editing by
Andrew Osborn)
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