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Egypt Prepares to Chair African Union in 2019

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (AFP)
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Egypt Prepares to Chair African Union in 2019

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (AFP)

Egypt is making the necessary preparations ahead of assuming the presidency of the African Union in 2019.

The city of Sharm El Sheikh will host on Saturday the Africa 2018 Forum, which will put a strong emphasis on youth, witness a day dedicated to entrepreneurship and gather a number of women who are empowering Africa.

The Forum, held under the patronage of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, would be further evidence of the role Cairo plays in Africa.

The Egyptian cabinet announced it would launch training for young African leaders, while the Cairo airport authorities set an independent corridor for travelers carrying a passport from the African Union.

The two-day event will bring together ten African heads of state and more than 60 international lecturers, according to organizers.

“The event would bring the continent’s leading business people and get them to co-invest and would discuss important issues related to the future of the continent and means to develop it,” said Heba Salama, CEO of COMESA Regional Investment Agency, co-hosts of the Forum.

Next to hosting the Africa 2018 Forum, the Egyptian presidency launched an initiative to train African youth to reinforce Egypt’s standing in Africa before taking over the African Union presidency.

Minister of Planning and Administrative Reform Hala al-Saeed said the initiative would include the African Women Leadership Training Program, the African Youth Career Program, and Egyptian-African Governance

In January, Sisi is expected to chair a summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government have already elected the Egyptian president for a one-year term, succeeding Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Egypt will also host the Intra-African Trade Fair with the participation of private sector leaders.

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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”