Sirte, Libya, 02 July-(ANA)-Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled his visit to Libya, sparing an African summit a diplomatic dilemma that threatened to eclipse talks on a continental government.
Ahmadinejad's office had announced the visit to the African Union summit in the seaside Libyan town of Sirte, but the following morning said the trip had been called off, without giving a reason.
His unexpected visit, just two days after the confirmation of his re-election despite mass street protests, had heightened tensions at the summit where delegates said Libyan leader and current AU chief Muammar Gaddafi had extended the invitation without consulting the 53-member bloc.
"It's good news," said one European diplomat observing the talks.
The planned Iranian visit had sparked debate among diplomats on how to react to a speech by Ahmadinejad at an event where Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who hosts the Group of Eight summit of rich nations next week, was also an invited guest.
Berlusconi told Gaddafi on Tuesday that he was cancelling his visit, due to the deadly crash of a train ferrying liquid petroleum gas that killed 14 people in Italy, the Italian government said in a statement.
The controversy over Iran had distracted from Gaddafi’s intense lobbying to pressure African nations into accepting his vision for a greatly empowered AU executive, despite opposition from key countries like South Africa, the region's economic powerhouse.(ANA)
Sudan/Ethiopia