Libya has become the fourth country to ratify a blueprint for an African Union, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) said Monday. The Libyan minister in charge of the dossier, Ali Triki, presented the instrument of ratification to OAU Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim who paid a working visit to Tripoli on Sunday, the OAU said in a communiqué.
Mali, Senegal and Togo -- current holder of the OAU presidency -- have already ratified the constitutive act of the African Union, so far signed by 31 of the pan-African body's 53 member states.
The launch of an African Union, the brainchild of Libyan leader Moammer Kadhafi, is planned next year in Sirte, Libya, but the constitutive act must be ratified by at least two-thirds of the OAU membership.
Salim carried on Sunday from Tripoli to Lusaka, the Zambian capital, to attend a summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) of which at least 10 of 20 member states are expected to launch a Free Trade Area (FTA) scrapping tariffs on Tuesday -- (AFP, ADDIS ABABA)
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