Foreign Ministry contests African Union suspension

Egyptian diplomats have been deployed to countries across Africa as the government contests Egypt’s suspension from the African Union following the military’s removal of former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

Admore Kambudzi, secretary of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, announced on July 5 that Egypt would be suspended from all the union’s activities “until the restoration of constitutional order.”

Diplomatic sources said that former Foreign Affairs Ministry diplomats including Mokhles Kotb, Mona Omar, Nehad Abdel Latif and Raouf Saad traveled to various African states to demand that the “unfair” decision be reconsidered.

Sources reported that Kotb, the former deputy minister of foreign affairs, left on Sunday for a tour of eight countries across the continent, starting with Ethiopia.  Ibrahim Hassan, assistant to the minister of foreign affairs, headed to Zimbabwe on Monday, the sources added.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy had a phone conference with his Sudanese counterpart, Ali Karti, to discuss ways to improve relations between the two countries, the ministry’s spokesperson stated.

The two also discussed important regional issues, including the distribution of Nile water.

On Saturday, Fahmy asserted that Egypt aims to take a leading role in regional politics, adding that the issue of the Ethiopian plans to build a dam on the Nile River — potentially jeopardizing Egypt’s share of the river’s water — remains a serious concern, Reuters reported.