AU slams France for arming Libyan rebels (VIDEO)

The African Union condemned France for arming Libyan rebels and thereby possibly making the entire region more dangerous.

African Union Commission chief Jean Ping told the BBC arming rebels risks creating problems similar to those in Somalia, which has seen years of conflict and war.

"There are several problems," he reportedly said. "The risk of civil war, risk of partition of the country, the risk of Somalia-zation of the country, risk of having arms everywhere… with terrorism."

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France has confirmed reports that it dropped large amounts of munitions to tribal fighters earlier in June as the rebels tried to advance on Tripoli.

French armed forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard reportedly told Reuters that France initially dropped humanitarian goods but as the situation worsened and civilians could not defend themselves, France also dropped light weapons and munitions.

NATO is now reviewing its military operation in Libya as a result of the France air drops, which was apparently done in defiance of the U.N. mandate, the Guardian reports.

A U.N. resolution authorizes NATO to conduct operations in Libya to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's forces. However, U.N. resolution 1973 does not allow the provision of weapons, and NATO has said it would not arm rebels.

France's weapons-drop highlights tensions within NATO over how its operation in Libya is being conducted, the Guardian states. There has been debate on the effectiveness of the campaign and if NATO should do more to force Gaddafi to exit.

Some analysts have also said France's move might violate the U.N. Security Council embargo on supplying arms to Libya, BBC reports.

African heads of state are meeting Thursday for an AU summit in Equatorial Guinea.