He spoke about this before handing the rotating chair of the African Union to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

On the face of it, having a permanent African anti-terror group standing by makes sense.

Countries, for various reasons political, social and economic, cannot respond quickly and muscularly to terror attacks.

However, having a group of soldiers fully armed and trained on stand-by creates suspicion – not to say alarm and despondency.

Who knows what they can be used for?

Witness the failure of the United Nations to  approve mustering a peacekeeping standby force.

President AbdelFattah Al Sisi has his work cut out transforming a good idea into actual boots on the ground. 

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A spokesman for the television networs this should be day of justice prevailing that will see Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy freed after spending 407 days in prison. 

The Egyptian authorities have already freed and deported Australian journalist Peter Greste.

He was the third accused in the original trial that’s been overturned.

An Al Jazeera spokesman says the entire world knows all three are innocent and were only doing their jobs as journalists.

They were covering the aftermath of the army’s removal of Mohamed Morsi from the presidency in July 2013.

Western governments, human rights organisations and media freedom groups have all called for the journalists’ release.

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