The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has urged African governments to unite to protect their marine and coastal environments.

In a speech, read on his behalf to delegates at a sub-Saharan African marine conference in Cape Town, Mr Annan said African participation in global efforts to protect marine resources was vital and he promised UN support for an action plan expected to emerge from the conference.

The deputy Secretary General of the OAU, Ahmed Haggag, told delegates African countries had to prevent non-African countries plundering their coastal resources.

He said an example of this was Somalia where foreign fishing fleets were using the crudest methods to destroy a rich fishing ground.