SOME TOTALS OAU / AU Summit Keywords:, African Rapid Reaction Force, International Criminal Court, Ethiopian media A. N. BRAGIN Our sobkor in Ethiopia One of the key outcomes of the AU summit, held on May 26, was the decision to create the African capacity for immediate response to crises. During the discussions on this topic, in particular, it was noted that there are doubts about the feasibility of existing plans for the creation of a combat-ready African Permanent Readiness Force (AFF) by 2015.Most likely, additional time will be required to train all five regional AFF brigades and bring them to a combat-ready state. At the same time, African leaders agreed that the instability and multiple existing and potential crisis situations in many countries of the continent require more decisive action from the AU. In their opinion, the conflicts in Mali, Libya, and Ivory Coast could be resolved faster and more successfully if Western countries did not interfere in them, and the leading role would be given to Africans. "The time has come for Africans to find African solutions to African problems," said South African President Jacob Zuma. As a result, South Africa's initiative to immediately establish the AFDBK as a temporary (pending the final formation of the AFP) force found broad support among the summit participants. They will be created on a voluntary basis. South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia immediately indicated their readiness to provide contingents and finance their participation if necessary. According to South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, more than 10 countries have expressed a desire to provide troops for the creation of the ASBRK. It was decided that the commander of these forces will be a representative of the country that will provide the largest number of military personnel. The Afro-Commission was instructed to work out the technical details of the creation of the ASBRK and prepare relevant recommendations for consideration at the meeti ... Read more