African Union

Gaddafi the strong man was elected .

Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi was yesterday elected chairman of the African Union at a summit of the 53-nation bloc in the Ethiopian capital.

Gaddafi was elected "by the heads of state in a closed-door session, for a one-year period," AU spokeswoman Habiba Mejri-Sheikh told AFP.

"He is currently addressing the assembly as president, to outline his programme and his intentions," she said.

Gaddafi has been a keen supporter of the notion of forming a continent wide government to create a "United States of Africa", but the idea failed to get backing in a closed door debate at the summit on Monday.

Leaders decided instead to consider ways of expanding the mandate of the existing AU Commission, which will be renamed the AU Authority. What will be the US reaction?