Gadhafi Blasts AU as He Steps Down as Chairman
31 January 2010
Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi arrives at the Special Session of the African Union Assembly, 31 Aug 2009 file photo
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has stepped down as chairman of the 53-nation African Union, but not without firing a few verbal broadsides at the organization. Mr. Gadhafi chastised his fellow heads of state for refusing to go along with his plan for a "United States of Africa."
All was calm on the surface. Africa's heads of state went into a conference room and emerged 20 minutes later to say Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutarika would assume the rotating African Union chairmanship for the coming year. But that announcement hid a furious behind-the-scenes battle for control of the continental organization that witnesses say nearly broke out in fisticuffs the night before.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had hoped to stay on for a second term to see through his plan for greater political and economic unification. But after handing over the chairmanship to the Malawian leader, Mr. Gadhafi let loose his wrath in a farewell speech, criticizing his colleagues for a lack of political will. His remarks in Arabic were translated by an AU interpreter.
"I doubt we will be able to shoulder the responsibilities before us," he said. "I doubt we can achieve something concrete in the future, because frankly speaking my experience of the African Union, the political elites of our continent lack political awareness and hence the political determination."
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