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African Leaders Sign Draft Treaty on African Union
African leaders attending the closing ceremony of the 36th annual summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) signed one-by-one here on Wednesday the draft treaty on the establishment of the African Union.
They approved unanimously the legal text of the union late on Tuesday, the second day of the 36th OAU summit held in the Togolese capital, so as to implement an important decision to create the African Union which was made at the extraordinary summit in September 1999 in Syrte, Libya.
But the formal creation of the new union, which will effectively replace the OAU, will not take into force until two thirds of the Pan-African organization's 53 members have ratified it.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been pushing for a closer union of Africa as soon as possible to confront the great challenge of globalization, but other countries like South Africa and Nigeria prefer a slow speed.
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