Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique has joined the growing list of African countries protesting against the decision to grant Israel observer status at the African Union.
The chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, accepted the credentials of the Israeli diplomat, Aleli Admasu, on 22 July, allowing him to become an observer at the AU. Admasu is also Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia.
A statement from the Mozambican embassy in Addis Ababa, published in Thursday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”, protested at Mahamat’s decision. It said that such a sensitive matter demanded consultation with all the AU member states, rather than a unilateral decision by the Commission.
Israel had once been an observer at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), but lost that status in 2002, when the OAU transformed itself into the African Union.
The statement from the embassy said that the circumstances which led to the loss of observer status in 2002 “remain unaltered, namely the occupation of Palestine and the systematic violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel, which contradict the constitutive principles of the African Union Charter”.
Making clear that it was speaking for the Mozambican government, the embassy demanded that the AU Commission “follow the correct procedure, by submitting the matter for a decision at the next meeting of the Executive Council”.
Since the Executive Council takes decisions by consensus or, where there is no consensus, by a two thirds majority, it is most unlikely to approve the request to grant Israel observer status.
