African Union to debate Morocco's bid to rejoin bloc

African Union leaders meet today for a summit that has exposed regional divisions as they mull whether to allow Morocco to rejoin the bloc, and vote for a new chairperson.
The two-day summit in Ethiopia comes after several shake-ups on the international stage: the election of US President Donald Trump and a new head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, who will address the opening of the assembly.
Yesterday in Addis Ababa, Guterres praised Ethiopia's generosity in welcoming refugees from the region while battling its worst drought in 50 years.
It is "an example that I would say needs to be thought about in a world where unfortunately so many borders are being closed," he said in a veiled dig at the US ban on travellers from seven Muslim countries, including Libya, Somalia and Sudan in Africa.

Uncertainty over Africa's relationship with Trump's America is one of several issues demanding the attention of AU leaders -- from turmoil in Libya, radical Islam in Mali, Somalia and Nigeria, to stagnating peace efforts in South Sudan.
However today's talks will be dominated by Morocco's bid to return to the fold 33 years after it quit in protest against the AU's decision to accept Western Sahara as a member.

The membership of affluent Morocco could be a boon for the AU, which lost a key financier in late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi and is working hard to become financially independent.

Currently foreign donors account for some 70 per cent of its budget, according to the Institute for Security Studies.
A Moroccan diplomat said yesterday the country had the "unconditional support" of 42 members of the bloc.
However in a sign of the resistance Morocco is facing, 12 countries including heavyweights Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Kenya and Angola, requested a legal opinion from the AU on whether the bloc could accept a country that some members consider is occupying another member's territory.
These nations have long supported the campaign for self-determination by Western Sahara's Polisario movement.
Morocco maintains that the former Spanish colony under its control is an integral part of the kingdom, while the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the territory's independence, demands a referendum on self-determination.

The AU's legal counsel, in a document seen by AFP, said the nations raised "fundamental concerns that have to be taken into account". However the decision to weigh Morocco's request ultimately rests with heads of state.