VOA News
11 Jul 2003, 10:33 UTC
The second annual African Union (AU) summit in Mozambique has entered its second day Friday, as the continent's leaders continue to focus attention on ending conflicts.
About 30 heads of state and other top officials are attending the three-day gathering in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano is the new AU chairman for the next 12 months. At the opening session Thursday, the AU's outgoing chairman South African President Thabo Mbeki urged summit participants to make conflict resolution a top priority.
That sentiment was echoed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said AU must find the political will to end those conflicts such as those in Liberia and Somalia. Otherwise, he said, international assistance, such as peacekeeping operations, will be meaningless.
Mr. Annan also called on participants to make the fight against the AIDS pandemic a top priority. An estimated 30 million people are infected with HIV and AIDS in Africa. Summit leaders also elected former Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare as the new chairperson of the AU commission.
The summit's agenda also includes discussions about Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, Zimbabwe's political and economic turmoil will not be officially addressed.
Notably absent from the summit is embattled Liberian leader, Charles Taylor, who has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria. A new presence at the meeting is Madagascar's president, Marc Ravalomanana. He was barred from attending last year's gathering over doubts about the legitimacy of his electoral victory.
The AU was created last year to succeed the 39-year-old Organization of African Unity. Unlike its predecessor, the AU has broad powers, including the authority to intervene in the internal affairs of other African nations.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
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