Annan urges African unity

The new African Union aims at political and economic union

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has made a vigorous appeal to African leaders to set aside their conflicts and bring unity to the continent.

These crises are the responsibility of each and every African leader

Kofi Annan

Speaking at the last Organisation of African Unity summit in the Zambian capital Lusaka, he said the wars in Africa were "in great measure the result of misguided leadership which is unwilling or unable to put the people's interests first".

The OAU, to be replaced by the African Union, has frequently been criticised for ignoring bread and butter issues.

Africa's leaders see the new union as a way of improving living standards on the world's poorest continent.

Aims of African Union

Enhanced co-operation and integration

Parliament and court of justice to be set up next year

Modelled on principles of European Union

The aim is to turn the 38-year-old OAU into a larger trading bloc, modelled more closely on groupings elsewhere in the world, such as the European Union.

It will eventually have common institutions such as a central bank and parliament.

Mr Annan identified HIV/Aids as another major obstacle to progress.

In much of southern Africa, more than 25% of the adult population is HIV positive.

Colonel Gaddafi has been the prime mover behind the new union

The new grouping is the brainchild of the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who has already given $1m to fund the transformation process.

A combined plan to develop Africa, which will be presented to the summit, calls on African leaders to consolidate democracy, and on the developed world to increase aid and investment.

The African Initiative, as it is known, is a merger of the Millennium African Recovery Programme (MAP) led by South African President Thabo Mbeki and the Omega Plan spearheaded by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.

In an early sign of continental unity and muscle-flexing, African leaders sided with Zimbabwe in its on-going row with Britain over land reform.

Aims of African Union

Enhanced co-operation and integration

Parliament and court of justice to be set up next year

Modelled on principles of European Union

A resolution adopted by OAU foreign ministers noted, "with concern British moves to mobilise European and North American countries to isolate and vilify Zimbabwe, leading to the imposition of formal and informal sanctions against it".

As the summit got under way the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, said he hoped it would consider setting up tribunals to try the violators of peace accords.

On Sunday, the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, chaired more talks in Lusaka on the civil war in Burundi. Some progress was reported, although details have not yet been disclosed.

Critics say that throughout its 38 years the OAU has merely been a talking shop and a waste of money, while its supporters maintain that it has achieved its primary goal of African liberation.

The OAU devoted most of its life to the struggle against colonialism and against apartheid in South Africa.

The heads of state must still decide where to site the African Union's institutions. The Union's executive commission is expected to be located in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where the OAU was founded and has its headquarters.