African Union recognizes Libya's NTC

Twenty African states have formally recognised the rebel National Transitional Council as Libya's legitimate government, African Union officials said on Friday after it appeared that the 54-member bloc as a whole would not do so. "According to the tally we've been keeping, 20 African countries have recognised the NTC as the government," an AU official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Nigeria and Ethiopia, where the AU is headquartered, were among several member states who had been lobbying the organisation to recognise the NTC, officials said. However, the African Union will not explicitly recognise Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), diplomats said on Friday, in a setback for Libyan rebels who have already been recognised by more than 40 countries as the legitimate government. Instead, the AU called in a communique for an inclusive transitional government in the North African state that would involve officials from Gaddafi's side. South Africa president Jacob Zuma said on Friday that the African Union cannot recognise the National Transitional Council while fighting continues in Libya. "If there is fighting, there is fighting. So we can't stand here and say this is the legitimate (government) now. The process is fluid. That's part of what we inform countries - whether there is an authority to recognise."