African summit overshadowed by Kadhafi, Ahmadinejad

SIRTE, Libya (AFP) – Africa's conflicts took a back seat Tuesday to a surprise visit by Iran's hardline president and Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's drive to create an "African government" ahead of a continental summit.

Kadhafi was elected president of the African Union in February, and the self-styled "king of kings" is using his term to press his scheme for African unity under a stronger AU executive, despite objections from key countries including South Africa, the continent's biggest economy.

His drive had already diverted attention from African trouble spots when Tehran announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would visit Libya on Wednesday to address the summit, after Iran's top electoral body confirmed his re-election despite massive opposition protests.

Diplomats expressed surprise at Ahmadinejad's visit, indicating Kadhafi had extended the invitation without consulting the bloc's 53 members.

Kadhafi has also invited Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country hosts the Group of Eight rich nations summit next week, when leaders will discuss possible sanctions against Iran.

Ahmadinejad's impending arrival immediately grabbed attention away from African hotspots like Mauritania, due to hold elections in July after a coup last August, or Guinea-Bissau, where elections were held last weekend after the president's assassination.

Ousted Madagascar leader Marc Ravalomanana has also come to plead for tougher action to return him to power, while rights groups are urging the AU to abandon its reticence over the international war crimes warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who will also be attending.

Kadhafi was already brushing aside those issues in favour of his plans to group the AU's existing organs under a single authority with more meaningful executive powers.

"We need to resolve this, even if we have to take it to a vote," Kadhafi told a preliminary ministerial meeting Sunday. "If two thirds agree, the remaining third must respect the decision of the majority."

Sirte -- Kadhafi's hometown that he has built into an ultra-modern administrative centre -- is draped with banners to encourage the delegates, running from the inspiring "Africa is hope" to the menacing "Death to Africa's enemies".

The city squeezed between the desert and the Mediterranean is festooned with twinkle lights and curbside laser shows that belie the severity of the tensions among the 53 AU members.

AU Commission chairman Jean Ping has already made clear that he feels the continental bloc's priorities should focus on resolving the political and armed crises plaguing Africa.

In what delegates said was a tense opening session to the ministerial talks Sunday, Ping pointed to the ongoing unrest in Sudan and Somalia -- where the AU has a 4,300-strong peacekeeping force -- as examples of the work facing the bloc.

"The overall situation on the continent remains alarming, with the persistence of coups d'etat or unconstitutional changes" in government, he said, referring to Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.

"It's nothing less than a worrying, regressive political evolution that calls for a coherent response on the part of the competent organs of our Union," he said.

Beshir's presence will also highlight defiance of the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The official agenda of the three-day summit is less controversial, centring on boosting investment in agriculture on the continent.

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