Addressing 35 heads of state and other high-ranking government officials, African leaders vow to take continental challenges ranging from wars, conflicts, diseases, poverty and underdevelopment.

African leaders in Maputo for a three-day summit include South African President Thabo Mbeki, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Libyan leader Omar Muammar Ghaddafi.

Those who failed to come include Sudanese President Omar HassanAhmed Al-Bashir because of tragic air crash in his country, Liberian President Charles Taylor, Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo, Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

As the outgoing AU chairman, South African President Thabo Mbeki said in his opening address, "The past year was again a challenging period in our efforts toward the regeneration of our continent."

He said, "We continued to experience occasional setbacks as we march forward toward a new era in the evolution of our continent. However, there is no doubt that we have begun to experience a rebirth."

"We have declared this the 21st Century the African century knowing the challenges that face our continent as it strives to clamber out the chasm of despair, into which it has been cast by the disheartening history of slavery, imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid, economic exploitation and marginalization," he said.

Meanwhile, he stressed that conflict resolution is a top priority for the AU

"Conflicts that have been raging for many years are being tackled with increased determination and many African countries are committing their own resources to conflict prevention, management and resolution," he said.

Mbeki handed over the rotational one-year chairmanship of the AU to his Mozambican counterpart Joachim Chissano, host of the African family.

In his welcoming address, President Joaquim Chissano appealed to African leaders gathering here to declare wars against poverty, conflicts, underdevelopment and international marginalization.

Chissano said, "We must take all kinds of effective measures to meet the challenges of backwardness in economy, technology, agriculture, lack of water and various kinds of diseases, including HIV/AIDS."

He expressed his belief that the backwardness situation will change if all African leaders make concerted efforts and that the situation will remain forever if no action is taken on the continent.

He also appealed to African states to show solidarity with each other, noting that in isolation it would be impossible to eradicate poverty on the continent.

"We need a concerted effort of all African countries to combat poverty. We hope that the Maputo summit will contribute to strengthening the union among African countries," he stressed.

Addressing African leaders and government officials, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the theme of this summit, ensuring the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEAPD), shows that the African leaders mean to pursue that mission with the seriousness and focus it requires.

"It shows you are determined that the African Union must play a central role in the work to achieve the strategic goals of NEPAD in the areas of peace and security, democracy, good governance, poverty reduction and sound economic management," he said.

The UN chief assured African leaders, "We in the United Nations will keep supporting you as advocates, to convince developed countries to do more -- such as provide more official development assistance, lift tariffs and subsidies, offer greater debt relief, provide yet stronger support for the struggle against AIDS."

The AU has lifted the ban on the membership of Madagascar and welcomed the return of Madagascar. In his speech at the summit, Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana expressed his gratitude toward the efforts made by the AU members on helping solve the political crisis in the country as well as for the return of his country to the "great family of Africa."

The AU, which was inaugurated in the South African eastern port city of Durban a year ago, also envisages a common court of justice, an African Central Bank, African Monetary Union and a common African currency in the long term.

According to the program available here, during the three-day summit, African heads of state and government will elect new chairman of the AU Commission and discuss the issue of New Partnership for Africa's Development as well as other issues concerning conflicts in the region and economic development.

The AU envisages a Peace and Security Council, Pan African Parliament, common court of justice and, eventually, a common African currency.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2003)