Breaking: African Union Suspends Egypt After Army Overthrow of President

The African Union (AU) on Friday suspended Egypt from all its activities after the Egyptian military overthrew the elected president Mohamed Morsi and halted the constitution, a senior AU official said.

This comes after the African Union’s Peace and Security Council had met on Friday to implement the AU’s usual response to any interruption of constitutional rule by a member state.

Suspension is the AU’s usual response to any interruption of constitutional rule by a member state.

“As mandated by the relevant AU instruments, the African Union Peace and Security Council decides to suspend the participation of Egypt in AU activities until the restoration of constitutional order,” Admore Kambudzi, Secretary of the Peace and Security Council, said after a meeting.

“The belief is that the doctrine will be applied, which is suspension for any country where an unconstitutional change has taken place,” a senior official in AU told Reuters earlier on Thursday.

In the March, the AU also suspended the Central African Republic after rebels overthrew the government there.

Ramtane Lamamra, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Council, told Reuters on Thursday in the Ethiopian capital where the AU is based that the council would discuss Egypt’s situation at the Friday meeting.

“We intend to dispatch a mission and urge the Egyptian authorities to establish dialogue,” Lamamra said.