Monday, 21 March 2011 22:45
By Mkinga Mkinga,
The Citizen Reporter
While there has been worldwide condemnation of the Western powers' invasion of Libya invasion, the leader of the embattled North African nation Col. Muammar Gaddafi has written to President Jakaya Kikwete and other African leaders, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe.
"I have the envelope here though I am also not aware what its contents are… I am taking it to the President right away," said Mr Membe when contacted by The Citizen yesterday.
Apparently not in position to reveal more information, the minister said Tanzanian officials had been in constant contact with the Libyan government and the African Union Commission over the current situation in Libya."I have been meeting with the Libyan envoy in the country and, of course, I have received a letter from President Muammar Gaddafi addressed to President Jakaya Kikwete," said Mr Membe.
A mix of Western coalition aircraft and navies led by the United States launched air strikes on Libya on Saturday to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973 on protection of civilians from violence by forces supporting the Libyan leader.
Members of the coalition included the Britain, France, Canada, Italy and Belgium.Mr Membe said the AU Peace and Security Council is due to meet Friday this week to discuss the Libyan conflict, but he did not say the council would convene at what level.
He said Uganda is expected to table a motion calling for an emergency AU summit to further discuss the developments in Libya.Representatives of the UN Security Council would be invited to the meeting, he said, "because the no-fly zone resolution, which has prompted intervention by the Western powers was passed by the UN."
"Our concern is that many African countries were not properly represented during the meeting which passed the resolution," the minister pointed out.Meanwhile, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has condemned the attacks on Libya saying they were rushed.
"The Western countries, which are most active in these rush actions, should look at that route. It may be one way of extricating all of us from possible nasty complications. What if the Libyans loyal to Gaddafi decide to fight on?
"Using tanks and planes that are easily targeted by Mr Sarkozy's planes is not the only way of fighting. Who will be responsible for such a protracted war? It is high time we did more careful thinking," President Museveni said in a statement whose copy was made available to The Citizen.
President Museveni said the African members of the Security Council voted for this Resolution of the Security Council, noting that it was contrary to what the AU Peace and Security Council had decided in Addis Ababa recently.
"Regarding the Libyan opposition, I would feel embarrassed to be backed by Western war planes because quislings of foreign interests have never helped Africa," he added. Meanwhile, a renowned political scientist and lecturer at Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT), Prof Mwesiga Baregu has described the UN resolution as "very strange".
"Instead of seeking peace, it has gone for invasion which now is costing innocent Libyans lives," the academic added.
In the opinion of Prof Issa Shivji, an expert on Pan-African Studies, it was unbecoming for foreigners to intervene as the Libyan uprising was by the people of Libya against their autocratic system headed by Gaddafi.
"They do not want to replace Gaddafi with an American or European stooge," he said, noting that as usual, "imperialist powers headed by the US want to fish in troubled waters and under the guise of protecting the citizens of Libya, they have now decided to invade Libya."
"All history has shown that these powers have their own interests. In the case of Libya, oil is paramount. They will bombard the country, turn it into another war zone, militarise the Mediterranean and hijack people's revolution," he said.
Prof Shivji added: "We ought to learn from what they have recently done in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and in the Balkans and what they are doing in Pakistan. It is surprising that the African Union is so silent on the invasion of the continent."
Speaking to this paper yesterday, Mr Faraja Kristomus, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at the University of Dar es Salaam, said he was also against the attacks of the allied forces against Mr Gaddafi.