African leaders urge ‘peaceful’ transition in Sudan, ceasefire in Libya

AFP, Cairo :
Egypt hosted African leaders for emergency talks Tuesday on the upheavals in neighbouring Sudan and Libya, as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned against “a slide into chaos”.
Sisi, current chair of the African Union, called for a coherent regional response as protesters in Khartoum pressed demands for a civilian government and Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces bear down on Tripoli.
The leaders in Cairo called for an “immediate halt” to the fighting in Libya and urged Sudan’s new military rulers to implement “peaceful, organised and democratic transition measures” within three months, the Egyptian presidency said.
But they also agreed on “the need for more time” for a transition, urging the African Union to extend its end of April deadline for the ruling military council to hand power to civilians or face suspension from the bloc.
An extension would ease international pressure on the council, which took power after the army’s toppling of longtime president Omar al-Bashir, to yield power.