Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Tanzania’s stance on Libya: double standard?

SO far Tanzania’s stance is not to recognize the Libya's National Transitional Council, and this is in line with the African Union which called on August 26 for the formation of an inclusive transitional government in Libya.

It is true that it might be too early recognize the rebels as sole legitimate representatives of the nation while fighting continued. But it is also a fact that there are members within AU member countries that have announced their recognition of the NTC.

This tells this country that it must find a way to strike the balance between a myopic stance and what is really going on in the ground; the reality is Gaddafi’s era is gone. Just recently Nigeria had asked the UK and France to prevail on the NTC in order to stop the killings. This indicates that there is no way any African country can talk of Libya without recognizing the ‘rebels’.

Recently the Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Bernard Membe had summoned the Libyan envoy to this country after he had raised the rebel’s flag in his embassy. Membe said this was a breech of protocol but the Libyans know better what is better for them than citizens of other countries.

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