Tunis bypasses Arab League with call for African Union to solve Egyptian crisis

Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki has called on the African Union to hold an urgent meeting to discuss a peaceful solution for the Egyptian crisis. Mr Marzouki has bypassed the Arab League with his call because the organisation, said spokesman Adnan Monassar, is no longer the appropriate party to play the role of mediator.

“President Marzouki phoned the head of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and discussed with her the importance of the Union finding a solution for the crisis in Egypt,” said Monassar. “The Arab League gave up its mediator’s role the minute that Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi sided with one party against the other.”

Al-Arabi told reporters in the wake of the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian army, “It is a popular revolution, not a military coup.”