Egypt to resume African Union membership after roadmap implemented: AU chief

African Union (AU) chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has said that Egypt will return to the union after the transitional roadmap is implemented, state news agency MENA reported.

At a dinner with Kuwaiti ambassador Rashed Al-Hagri, in Addis Ababa, Dlamini-Zuma said the AU needs Egypt because of the crucial role it plays among Arab and African countries.

Egypt was suspended from the AU after the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president of the country.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the AU has been visiting Egypt.

They met members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday.

The AU delegation, headed by former Malian president Alpha Omar Konare, met interim President Adly Mansour and presidential candidate Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

During its meeting with El-Sisi, the AU delegation expressed its support for Egypt's transitional roadmap, which was announced last July following Morsi's ouster.

The 54-nation bloc suspended Egypt from all its activities last July, days after the overthrow of Morsi, until it could restore "constitutional order."

It is the AU's policy to suspend any member state if it undergoes an “unconstitutional” change of government.

Egypt has since mounted a diplomatic offensive against the decision of the bloc, which considers the Islamist leader's ouster a coup.

In January, Egypt was troubled by a decision by Washington, a long-time ally, to exclude it from a high-profile African summit convened by US President Barack Obama, citing the AU suspension.