Malawi president elected new African Union chairman

By IANS
Tuesday, February 2, 2010

ADDIS ABABA - Malawi President Bingu Wa Mutharika was elected as the new chairman of the African Union (AU) during a summit of the 53-member group in this Ethiopian capital Tuesday.

African leaders have elected President Bingu wa Mutharika the new chairman of the AU at the Heads of State and Government Summit, BuaNews reported.

The leaders rejected a bid by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to win a second term. Gaddafi was elected chairman during last year’s summit and had wanted to stay on in the post which is usually rotated among member-countries of the continent.

Addressing the summit, Gaddafi said he would continue to promote his vision of a “United States of Africa”.

The executive council has also endorsed the 15 members of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC).

Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria were elected to serve for three years. The remaining members - Burundi, Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Mali and Benin, will remain members of the council for two years.

PSC members are selected on a regional basis, with three members each from central, east and southern Africa and four from west Africa.

Filed under: Politics

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