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| Leaders split over African unity | Leaders split over African unity |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Southern and East African leaders have rejected plans to set up a pan-African government, as suggested by Libya's head of state Col Muammar Gaddafi. | Southern and East African leaders have rejected plans to set up a pan-African government, as suggested by Libya's head of state Col Muammar Gaddafi. |
| Uganda's Yoweri Museveni said he backed economic integration but said Africa was too diverse for one government. | Uganda's Yoweri Museveni said he backed economic integration but said Africa was too diverse for one government. |
| "Politically we should only integrate with people who are either similar or compatible with us," he said, according to Uganda's state-owned media. | "Politically we should only integrate with people who are either similar or compatible with us," he said, according to Uganda's state-owned media. |
| Senegal, however, backed the plans and said a breakaway group could be formed. | Senegal, however, backed the plans and said a breakaway group could be formed. |
| Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said Senegal was prepared to take the first steps towards a pan-African government by joining other states willing to sign such an accord. | Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said Senegal was prepared to take the first steps towards a pan-African government by joining other states willing to sign such an accord. |
| HAVE YOUR SAY I want to buy the idea of having a United States of Africa but let's first of all try to resolve the issue in Sudan and Zimbabwe Lucien Momoh, Freetown Send us your comments | HAVE YOUR SAY I want to buy the idea of having a United States of Africa but let's first of all try to resolve the issue in Sudan and Zimbabwe Lucien Momoh, Freetown Send us your comments |
| "If Senegal wants to build this union with two, three, four more countries, there is not a country in this room that has enough power to tell Senegal you cannot do it," he told the Reuters news agency. | "If Senegal wants to build this union with two, three, four more countries, there is not a country in this room that has enough power to tell Senegal you cannot do it," he told the Reuters news agency. |
| But the leaders of Kenya and Lesotho, representing southern Africa, also expressed their doubts. | But the leaders of Kenya and Lesotho, representing southern Africa, also expressed their doubts. |
| Some of the 50 leaders at the African Union (AU) summit in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, fear the issue will push the crises in Zimbabwe, Somalia and Darfur off the agenda. | Some of the 50 leaders at the African Union (AU) summit in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, fear the issue will push the crises in Zimbabwe, Somalia and Darfur off the agenda. |
| Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said unity was vital to make the continent truly independent of the West, as he spoke to a crowd of cheering Ghanaians. | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said unity was vital to make the continent truly independent of the West, as he spoke to a crowd of cheering Ghanaians. |
| "Unless we put our act together... and start pooling our resources together, we will never, ever prosper from any aid from any source outside Africa," President Mugabe said on Sunday in a speech at the tomb of Ghana's first president. | "Unless we put our act together... and start pooling our resources together, we will never, ever prosper from any aid from any source outside Africa," President Mugabe said on Sunday in a speech at the tomb of Ghana's first president. |
| The idea of a single pan-African government was first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957. | The idea of a single pan-African government was first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957. |
| Timing | Timing |
| Mr Gaddafi has called for the immediate establishment of a single government, foreign policy and army. | Mr Gaddafi has called for the immediate establishment of a single government, foreign policy and army. |
| My vision is to wake up the African leaders to unify our continent Muammar al-Gaddafi Reporter's diary | |
| Ghana's President John Kufuor said in his opening speech to the conference that the question of unifying Africa was not in doubt, but the key issue was how to attain it. | |
| AU Commission head Alpha Oumar Konare told the gathering that Africans needed to "take the bull by the horns and move towards a new country - Africa". | AU Commission head Alpha Oumar Konare told the gathering that Africans needed to "take the bull by the horns and move towards a new country - Africa". |
| But campaigners on the sidelines of the summit say delivery is the key problem, with leaders already having shown they are unwilling to give up power to regional economic blocs. | But campaigners on the sidelines of the summit say delivery is the key problem, with leaders already having shown they are unwilling to give up power to regional economic blocs. |
| "We have regional economy communities that were put in place for West Africa... but nothing is working. From one country to another... there are still a lot of obstacles," a campaigner for the organisation Call To Action Against Poverty told the BBC. | "We have regional economy communities that were put in place for West Africa... but nothing is working. From one country to another... there are still a lot of obstacles," a campaigner for the organisation Call To Action Against Poverty told the BBC. |
| This summit is the ninth since the AU was created five years ago. | This summit is the ninth since the AU was created five years ago. |