Heated talks on Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's push for a powerful pan-African authority dragged into early Friday, as fresh debate erupted at an African summit on the Sudan president's indictment.
Kadhafi grew so frustrated at the dissent over his scheme to give the authority broad power over regional defence and foreign affairs that he briefly walked out of the talks at an African Union summit here, diplomats said.
"Everyone is very angry. We're not sure how it will end up," one diplomat said.
The leaders agreed in February to create an AU Authority that would centralise the executive powers of the 53-member bloc.
But Kadhafi unexpectedly proposed sweeping new powers for the Authority, a move opposed by countries that say it would cost them their sovereignty and that question the Libyan leader's motives.
"They have introduced the concept of a union government, but the Authority was not meant for that," one diplomat said. "It was meant to be an inter-governmental organisation."
"It was meant to be like an ambush," he said of Kadhafi's tactics.
The continent's biggest economy South Africa, as well as top oil producers Nigeria and Angola, are opposing Kadhafi and arguing for a more gradual approach to integration.
It is only the latest move by the Libyan leader to rankle the visiting leaders at the summit in his hometown of Sirte, which is decked out in twinkle lights, lit-up plastic trees and laser shows for the occasion.
Kadhafi extended a surprise invitation to Iran's hardline leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address the summit, only for Tehran to cancel the trip at the last minute without explanation.
Delegates complained they hadn't been consulted, didn't all support the invitation, and feared the Iranian visit would overshadow the meeting's official agenda, which is supposed to focus on agricultural investments.
A new debate also erupted over a draft measure circulated on the International Criminal Court, saying "the AU member states shall not cooperate... for the arrest and surrender of African indicted personalities."
The text backed by Kadhafi goes considerably further than earlier AU resolutions, and would amount to a reprieve across Africa for Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir, who has been indicted for war crimes in Darfur.
Thirty African countries are parties to the statutes that created the court, and many do not want to end their cooperation with the ICC, although they argue the warrant could hamper the peace process in Sudan
"We think that the execution of the warrant at this point in time is going to compromise several milestones in the roadmap to peace in Darfur," Ghana's Foreign Minister Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni said.
Before wrapping up the summit Friday, the leaders also must confront other political and armed conflicts roiling the continent, most dramatically in Somalia, where Islamist insurgents launched an offensive against the internationally backed government nearly two months ago.
The African Union has 4,300 peacekeepers deployed in Somalia, its largest force on the continent. But their role is confined largely to protecting the president and ensuring that key sea and airports remain open.
Somalia and five of its neighbours want the AU to deploy a total of 8,000 peacekeepers, a contingent that has already been approved but not yet manned.
"Currently there is just over 4,000 in Somalia, and what we have requested is that the full complement of 8,000 should be given," Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar said.
"The situation is not what it was supposed to be a month ago, two months, three months ago," he said. "It is a threat to the subregion as a whole."
Source: SlashNews.co.uk
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