While much of the world was deliberating over the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya in Paris on March 19th-a meeting that included the UN, the Arab League, France, the US and other NATO countries-Mauritania hosted a high-level African Union (AU) committee on Libya that included the host country, a handful of African presidents and envoys and the head of the AU commission, Jean Ping. The so-called Nouakchott meeting was seen by many as a snub to the European-led effort-as the AU had been invited to participate in the Paris meeting held on the same day-but it primarily served to highlight the AU's impotence when confronted with conflict and human rights violations on the continent. Notably, the communiqué for the Nouakchott meeting expressed "regret" at not being able to, "as they had envisaged", travel to Libya to meet with the Libyan government as a result of the no-fly zone that the Paris meeting had implemented.