African leaders agree to change AU's executive body

 2009-07-03 15:50:04  

    ADDIS ABABA, July 3 (Xinhua) --

African leaders, who are in Libya's port city of Sirte to attend the 13th summit of the African Union (AU), early Friday agreed to transform the AU's executive body into an authority with a broader mandate, according to reports of news agencies.

    After overnight marathon talks, the African leaders reached a consensus on the transformation of the AU Commission into the AU Authority.

    The new institution comprises a chair, a vice-chair and 10 secretaries with specific portfolios.

    The reports said a draft document was adopted early Friday at the summit after long discussions, though a number of countries, including Nigeria, were opposed to the immediate creation of the authority.

    The transformation, proposed by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who is also the AU's rotating chairman, also includes the expansion of the new institution's power over defense, diplomatic and international trade matters.

Editor: Lin Liyu

African leaders agree to Libya-led AU changes

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU The Associated Press Friday, July 3, 2009; 12:41 AM

SIRTE, Libya --

Concluding marathon talks held late into the night, African leaders agreed Friday to a Libyan-driven push to transform the African Union and in theory greatly extend its powers.

The change was materialized by morphing the African Union's executive body, the commission, into an "African Authority."

The draft document adopted at 4 a.m. at the AU summit of heads of states in Sirte, Libya, showed that the new Authority would simplify the AU's structure and boost its power over defense, diplomatic and international trade matters.

The document, obtained by The Associated Press, was viewed as a milestone for the buildup to what Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has long envisioned as a federal government overseeing a "United States of Africa."

"The final text reflects everybody's position," said Benin's Foreign Minister Jean-Marie Ehouzou, the only head of state or country delegate to address journalists as the weary-eyed and tightlipped officials trickled out of the conference room after over 15 hours of near-uninterrupted talks.

The Authority would have to resolve doubts voiced by many African leaders about unifying Africa under one government, including concerns about national sovereignty, division of resources and power.

Most African leaders voice support for more unity, but some of the continent's wealthier nations, led by Nigeria and South Africa, had appeared to be resisting the move. African diplomats say there are worries the new structure could become overbearing, especially if it is led by Gadhafi, who has a long history of intervening throughout Africa.

Ehouzou conceded the final declaration had "provoked quite a few sharp discussions, but I believe the states eventually managed to reach common ground nonetheless."

The draft shows the new Authority will "coordinate the implementation of a common defense policy" as well as the "common position of AU member states during international negotiations." The Authority is also due to hold "the strategic command of an African force in waiting."

"I believe (African) states are ready to drop a little bit of their sovereignty in favor of the authority," Ehouzou said.

In practice, however, the wording of the Authority's new role remained very vague. Ehouzou also confirmed that the changes would have to be first written into the AU's constitution before being ratified by the parliament of each of the AU's 53 member states. The declaration showed that finances related to the change were also to be studied at a later, unspecified date.

AU summit tackles conflicts, 'African government'

by Griffin Shea Griffin Shea – Wed Jul 1, 2009, 11:03 pm ET

SIRTE, Libya (AFP) –

African leaders hold talks Thursday on Somalia and a slate of other conflicts at a continental summit hosted by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, who is lobbying for a powerful pan-African government.

The opening of the summit Wednesday was eclipsed by Kadhafi's invitation to Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address the gathering, only for Tehran to cancel the trip at the last minute without explanation.

His cancellation soothed nerves at the summit, where delegates said Kadhafi had not consulted members before offering Ahmadinejad an international platform -- despite protests over alleged fraud in his re-election and Iran's detention of British embassy staff.

Once the dust settled, the leaders held closed-door talks late into the night Wednesday on the summit's official agenda of boosting investment in agriculture across the continent.

Leaders from about half of the African Union's 53 members were at the summit, with Egypt and top oil producers Nigeria and Angola among the most notable absences.

The talks Thursday were set to turn to the political and armed conflicts roiling the continent, notably in Somalia, where the African Union has deployed 4,300 peacekeepers.

Islamist insurgents launched a new offensive against Somalia's internationally backed government in early May. The peacekeepers now spend most of their time protecting the president and ensuring that key sea and airports remain open.

"The worst case in Somalia would be a return to a stateless situation and incessant fratricidal attacks," the top AU official Jean Ping told the summit Wednesday.

"This is also a Somalia in a geo-strategic position heightened by its vulnerability, that could be transformed into an enduring point of support for international terrorism and maritime piracy," Ping added.

Somalia and five of its neighbours are asking the AU to send another 4,000 peacekeepers. Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Malawi are seen as candidates for offering troops, but it remains unclear if the African Union has the appetite to expand its operations as the violence intensifies.

The summit has already taken steps to address other hotspots.

The AU Peace and Security Council on Tuesday lifted Mauritania's suspension from the bloc, after the naming of a transitional government to steer the country toward elections on July 18, following last year's coup.

In Madagascar, new talks were planned for later this month to resolve the crisis after the elected president Marc Ravalomanana was ousted in March by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, who took power with the army's blessing.

The summit also must decide how to react to the international war crimes warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over atrocities in Darfur. Beshir has been travelling to countries without treaty obligations to the International Criminal Court to rally support for a suspension of the warrant.

But Kadhafi, the current head of the African Union, has been lobbying hard to push African nations to accept his vision for a greatly empowered AU executive, despite opposition from key countries like South Africa, the region's economic powerhouse.

Kadhafi wants to bring all the African Union's existing organs under a single federal authority, part of his broader campaign for a "United States of Africa".

Many countries, especially in eastern and southern Africa, favour a more gradual approach to integration and resent Kadhafi's pressure to quickly create a more powerful AU Authority.