TRIPOLI, Jan 16, 2012 (AFP)
African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping arrived in Libya on Monday for his first visit since the overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi, officials in his delegation said.
He went straight into talks with Foreign Minister Ashur bin Khayyal and was also to meet with Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib.
Ping said his talks were focused on African Union (AU) efforts to help restore security to Libya and aid its post-war reconstruction as well to improve ties with its African neighbours, the Libyan news agency LANA reported.
It said they also discussed the agenda of the AU summit at the end of January in Addis Ababa.
The AU only recognised Libya’s new leaders in September, after having failed to assert itself as a mediator in the conflict between rebels and Kadhafi, who was a founder of the pan-Arab organisation.
The rebels, who had the support of NATO, turned down AU appeals for dialogue with the Kadhafi regime.
