Speaker, the AU and South Africa, which is part of the AU, have been working very hard on the Libyan question. We have had a lot of meetings as well as work done as the ad hoc committee, which consists of five heads of states who headed the activities with regard to Libya. We also looked at the AU's own policies and positions. For example, given the history of the continent, any country's regime that brought about change through military means will not be recognised by the AU.
In discussing the question of the Libyan problem, given the fact that Libya, historically, in the last 41 or 42 years did not have these constitutional institutions and no constitution at all, except what read here, we felt, as the AU, that we should be flexible.
We should be flexible so that those people in Libya who asked for change and therefore later became the NTC and now are the ones who are establishing inclusive government, will be allowed by the AU to occupy the seat of Libya in the AU so that they participate in the processes of reconstruction in Libya.
That is what the AU has done. In other words, the AU has a very clear position about how to deal with countries that come into authority through military means. However, in this case, because of the unique situation of Libya, the AU decided, as one of the steps to help, that Libya should be part of us and work with us to ensure that we move forward.
We are even more concerned now, because the way in which the Libyan situation has been dealt with has created a situation in Libya that not only affects the citizens of that country, but the entire region. Many countries like Mali, Chad, Niger or Mauritania are affected.
Many people have been walking into these countries well-armed. So we are talking about the Libyan situation that has undermined the regional security. That is a big concern for the AU. We will therefore do everything we can to ensure that we work with the Libyans to solve their problems as quickly as possible and help them to establish proper democratic institutions so that there can be a legitimate government in Libya. [Applause.]