ADDIS ABABA: The African Union is likely to suspend Egypt from all its activities after the Egyptian military suspended the constitution and overthrew the elected president, Muhammad Mursi, a senior AU source said yesterday.
AU commissioner Lamamra Ramtane told the Associated Press yesterday that the AU's peace and security council will meet today to deliberate on Egypt's political crisis and that the members were likely to implement the AU's usual response to any interruption of constitutional rule by a member state.
During the meeting, the African Union official said, the continental body will discuss political events in Egypt, where the country's democratically leader was ousted by the military.
"The belief is that the doctrine will be applied, which is suspension for any country where an unconstitutional change has taken place," he said.
In March, the AU also suspended the Central African Republic after rebels overthrew the government there.
"We intend to dispatch a mission and urge the Egyptian authorities to establish dialogue," Lamamra said.
The AU usually suspends the membership of countries where the military ousts an elected government. Hinting that such a move could be coming, the head of the AU Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Wednesday said the body has "a principled position on unconstitutional changes of government."
Dlamini-Zuma had urged Egyptians to hold dialogue to end the crisis within the framework of Egyptian law. Egypt's military toppled President Mursi on Wednesday.
AU likely to suspend Egypt
