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By Peter Cunliffe-Jones
LOME, July 10 (AFP)-Speaking at the opening session of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, plans to write to the leaders of the G-8 group of rich industrialized nations ahead of their upcoming summit to plead for funding to develop information technology (IT) in Africa. He described the widening IT gap between developed and developing countries as "woefully inadequate" and "way behind" anything seen in other regions of the world. "It is essential that this gap is closed," he said, adding that it was also the responsibility of African leaders "to ensure that your people do not miss out." The G-8 summit will be held July 21-23 on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. Libyan leader Mohammad Gaddafi rolled into Lome, the capital city of Togo, for the three-day summit at the head of a 200-vehicle trans-desert caravan with two aircraft flying overhead. Gaddafi arrived first at the summit venue for the official opening at midday Monday, waving to the vast crowds attending the ceremony from his open-topped bullet-proof cadillac. He was in Lome to press his call for African leaders to agree to form a grand 'African Union', with broad powers, a parliament and a president, eroding state sovereignty and eventually taking over from the regional organizations set up after the end of colonial rule. Gaddafi secured some support for his plan at an extraordinary summit in Libya last year, but since then that support appears to have eroded. According to this report, some countries with strong financial backing from Tripoli, including Togo, still support the idea. Leaders of the African regional organizations, bear a pained expression when the idea is mentioned, and the governments of the continent's major powers, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa openly say they are completely opposed. After meeting Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade in his tent late Sunday, Gaddafi told reporters he was still "optimistic" his idea would be approved. |
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