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| Libya's Muammar Kaddafi elected as next African Union leader |
| Addis Abeba, 02.02.2009 |
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| Libyan leader Muammar Kaddafi has been elected as chairman of the 53-nation African Union. Kaddafi was elected by delegates at the AU summit in Ethiopia. Kaddafi was seen to be the obvious choice, but some delegates are uneasy about his nomination.
ADDIS ABABA (Agencies)
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took the reins of the 53-nation African Union at a summit in Ethiopia on Monday amid concerns over deadly unrest in Madagascar and a bid to indict Sudan's president for war crimes.
Gaddafi, who has long promoted stronger union within the organization and poured money into some parts of Africa, was handed the chairman's gavel by outgoing AU leader Jakaya Kikwete, the Tanzanian president, to warm applause from other leaders.
But Southern African leaders had lobbied for a leader from their region, as the next summit moves to crisis-hit Madagascar, according to delegates to the summit.
Other African nations were also unhappy about the choice of Gaddafi as the bloc's chairman but under AU rules the post rotates among Africa's regions and this year was set to go to a North African leader. Gaddafi was the only one present.
"United States of Africa"
" I hope my term will be a time of serious work and not just words...I shall continue to insist that our sovereign countries work to achieve the United States of Africa. "
GaddafiThe Libyan leader was elected in a closed-door vote and vowed to press ahead with plans to create a "United States of Africa" despite other leaders' reluctance to back his objective.
"I hope my term will be a time of serious work and not just words," Gaddafi said in his inaugural speech.
"I shall continue to insist that our sovereign countries work to achieve the United States of Africa," he said, admitting that African leaders were "not near to a settlement" on the issue. "We are still independent states."
Gaddafi and Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade have been calling for years for an accelerated process towards a union government, saying it is the only way to meet the challenges of globalization, fighting poverty and resolving conflicts without Western interference.
Kikwete told a news conference on Sunday night the meeting had agreed only to change the name of the current AU Commission into an "authority," rejecting a proposal by the body itself to transform it immediately into a union government.
But many African heads of state are loathe to relinquish any of their sovereignty, and during closed-door talks on Sunday, they again postponed his dream of closer union.
Political unrest
The summit, which ends on Tuesday, has been overshadowed by political unrest in Madagascar, torn apart in a power struggle that has killed 68 people so far.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the summit he was "particularly concerned" about the crisis, and urged that all parties "address their differences peacefully and through existing constitutional mechanisms."
However, Ban steered clear of any mention of a controversial request by the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor for an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
AU Commission President Jean Ping told leaders earlier that the bloc was trying to lobby international support for a 12-month stay in judges' consideration of the request, "to give a greater chance to the peace process."
Ban hailed moves toward forming a new government in Somalia, following the election of a new president last week, and praised Zimbabwe's progress toward forming a unity government to end months of political crisis.
"King of kings" of Africa
The 66-year-old Libyan leader has for years sought to boost Africa's profileand his own influenceby pushing for closer ties on the continent.
Hoping to burnish his standing, he recently had a group of traditional leaders name him the "king of kings" of Africa, and brought an entourage of seven local monarchs dripping in gold jewellery with him to the summit.
The previous AU summit in Egypt last July produced a skeleton agreement and the first day of the current meeting in Ethiopia was devoted to the union proposal.
The Tanzanian president said the Addis summit would agree by its close on Wednesday on the new authority's structures but it would not be launched until the next summit in July. He said this would move the continent closer to a union government.
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