PRETORIA: South African President Jacob Zuma said Sunday the UN resolution used by NATO to justify its bombing in Libya doesn’t allow "regime change or political assassination" of Moammer Qaddafi.
"The continuing bombing by NATO and its allies is a concern that has been raised by our committee and by the AU Assembly, because the intention of Resolution 1973 was to protect the Libyan people and facilitate the humanitarian effort," Zuma said.
"The intention was not to authorize a campaign for regime change or political assassination," he said in opening talks of the African Union panel on Libya, according to a text of the speech provided to AFP.
The African Union panel on Libya met Sunday in Pretoria on mediation efforts to end the four-month war, after Zuma’s visit to Tripoli last month failed to reach a deal.
The leaders of Mauritania, Uganda and Mali as well as Congo-Brazzaville’s foreign minister met with Zuma as Libyan rebels said they expect to receive an offer from Qaddafi "very soon" that could end the four-month war.
None of the leaders spoke as they entered the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria, pausing only for photographs before their closed-door discussions.
Zuma’s spokesman Zizi Kodwa said they wanted to a find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
"We believe the only way to bring about a peaceful resolution to the current crisis is through a political dialogue. We believe in an African solution to an African problem," he told reporters.
"This is part of the effort which is on a continuing basis to find a peaceful resolution."
Zuma will brief the panel about his meeting with Qaddafi in Tripoli, when he failed to close the gap between the Libyan leader and rebels who are insisting that he step down before agreeing to any deal, Kodwa said.
The South African foreign ministry said in a statement the leaders would review efforts to secure a ceasefire, to provide humanitarian relief, to protect foreign nationals and to bring about reforms "necessary for the elimination of the causes of the current crisis."
Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who heads the AU panel, told AFP on June 6 that Qaddafi "can no longer lead Libya," and that "his departure has become necessary."
Many AU leaders have publicly criticized NATO’s assault on Qaddafi’s regime, including Zuma, who earlier this month accused the alliance of abusing the United Nations resolution that justified its bombing.
He said that by pursuing regime change NATO had strayed far outside the resolution’s civilian protection focus.
Zuma’s government has also accused Tripoli of a "heinous violation of human rights against (Qaddafi’s) own people" and South Africa, which currently holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, did vote in favor of a no-fly zone in Libyan airspace.
The meeting includes Presidents Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, as well as Congo foreign minister Basile Ikouebe.
They are to prepare a report to deliver to a full summit of the African Union, of which Libya is a member, in Equatorial Guinea, which opens Thursday, Kodwa said.
