in Ashgabat defected from Gaddafi shortly after the start of the Battle of Tripoli. The head diplomat expressed support for the NTC and the revolution. Other non-UN member governments : On 26 August, the Sahrawi government and the Polisario Front issued a joint statement rebutting claims that 556 Polisario mercenaries were arrested in Libya, blaming the report on Moroccan propaganda. The statement asked "the new Libyan authorities, represented by the Transitional National Council", to immediately disavow the claims. International organisations Several international organisations formed a relationship with the National Transitional Council in Benghazi, and the NTC was formally accredited as Libya's legitimate representative by some of them. African Union: The AU has repeatedly urged both sides in the civil war to exercise "restraint" and has declared its opposition to violence as a means of resolving the conflict. A delegation of African heads of state representing the AU met with representatives of the rival governments of Gaddafi and the NTC in April 2011 to present a peace plan. Though Tripoli accepted the plan, the NTC rejected it over its failure to stipulate Gaddafi's relinquishment of power. The AU presented a new framework in early July with many of the same features of the rejected "roadmap", again calling for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations brokered by the United Nations and the AU ad hoc committee, which includes Congo–Brazzaville President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, South African President Jacob Zuma, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. On 22 August, the African Union Commission recognised the NTC "as the country's legitimate representative". However, on 26 August, the AU Peace and Security Council reportedly decided that the AU would not recognise the NTC and would insist on the formation of a unity government that includes Gaddafi loyalists. AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping said on 29 August that "seat is waiting for [the NTC] in the African Union ... for the new Transitional Authorities", but it had to form a unity government first. He also disparaged recent alleged hate crimes against black people in Libya, saying, "The NTC seems to confuse black people with mercenaries." On 20 October AU lifted its suspension of Libya's membership in the organisation and said that it "would set up a liaison office in Tripoli". : Reports indicate that the Arab League had been involved in a move by "a European leader close