Wednesday, 12 July, 2000, 18:18 GMT 19:18 UK 
Controversial new leader for OAU


Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema has taken up his position at the head of the Organisation of African Unity. 
But the outgoing OAU chairman, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is retaining his crucial role as mediator in the peace talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

Mr Eyadema's installation as chairman completes the business of the OAU's annual summit in the Togolese capital, Lome, which has been dominated by a plan for increased pan-African unity. 

The Togolese chairmanship of the OAU is likely to prove controversial - a UN report alleging that Mr Eyadema has supported the Angolan Unita rebels prompted Angola and its allies to boycott the Lome summit. 

Mr Eyadema, Africa's longest-serving head of state, has denied that he facilitated the sale of diamonds which are funding Unita's war - and recently expelled Unita officials who had been living in Togo. 

Mr Bouteflika will continue as mediator in the Horn conflict - even though this role would normally be taken over by his successor in the OAU chairmanship. 

This has been interpreted as reflecting the Algerian president's success in bringing Ethiopia and Eritrea to the negotiating table after their costly two-year border war. 

Unity plan 

In the first step towards a possible pan-African political or economic union, leaders at the summit unanimously endorsed the text for the creation of a an executive assembly, a parliament and a court. 

But they named no fixed date that the union would come into force. 

This move could eventually lead to the creation of a common defence, foreign, and communication policy in addition to closer economic ties. 

The text, which has to be ratified by two-thirds of the 53 member states, stopped short of removing the OAU principle of non-interference which has been a major stumbling block towards the resolution of conflicts on the continent. 

Correspondents say some strong African countries are wary of losing their sovereignty to a super-state. 

The fact that some African states are at war with one another, or divided by internal faction fighting, is a further hindrance to unity. 

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier called for an economic-style union that will help the development of the continent. 

Libyan disappointment 

The unity plan was proposed by the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi - a close ally of Mr Eyedema. 

But the plan endorsed by leaders in Lome falls short of Colonel Gaddafi's desire to see a pan-African parliament set up by this year. 

The colonel nevertheless welcomed the Togo declaration. 

"It's a victory for Africa. I am proud because I still have a grand ambition for the African continent and I have fixed a date with the heads of state in Sirte in March, 2001," he said. 

The South African President Thabo Mbeki described the development as a "cautious step forward."