Sirte, Libya - Delegates from the 52 countries that make up
the African Union on Wednesday sought to raise the body's role in
international affairs at the start of a three-day summit in Libya.
African leaders gathered in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte to
discuss 'investing in agriculture for food self-sufficiency,' but AU
Commission Chairman Jean Ping said he hoped they could also raise the
body's profile in resolving international disputes.
'Stature in the international community is not given by anyone,'
Ping said in remarks carried by Libya's official JANA news agency.
'It has to be taken.'
'We are relieved that Africa has started to speak with one voice
in international venues,' Ping said. 'This is the implementation of
(Libyan leader Moamer) Gaddafi's vision.'
'Now we are in the same city, and the same hall, where we decided
10 years ago to establish the African Union in order to deal with the
obstacles that face the continent and to push for ... development and
stability,' he noted.
'Brother Moamer Gaddafi, President of the African Union and the
King of Africa's traditional Kings, in the name of the Arab League,
I'd like to salute you, and to hail your role in pushing the African
Union's role,' Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa told Gaddafi.
More than 200 African kings and traditional leaders bestowed the
title of 'king of kings' on Gaddafi in a 2008 ceremony in Libya.
But Mussa's remarks may also have been a sly reference to
Gaddafi's remarks at a March Arab League summit in Qatar.
'I am the king of African kings, Imam of the Muslims, leader of
the nations and the rock of Arab leaders,' Gaddafi told Saudi
Arabia's King Abdullah at that meeting.
In Libya on Wednesday, Mussa held up AU-Arab League cooperation on
such conflicts as Sudan and Somalia as examples, and said that the
challenges facing the Arab and African worlds must be resolved
through consultations.
The summit's focus on food and agriculture reflected an
'intelligent response to African societies' real needs, considering
that almost 80 per cent of Africans depend on agriculture for their
livelihoods,' Mussa said.
This year's summit, the African Union's thirteenth, had initially
been scheduled to be held in Madagascar, but the island nation was
stripped of its AU membership in March following political unrest
there.
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