SADC summit opens

Southern African heads of state met on Friday to revamp a controversial regional defence body, review the war in Angola and consolidate peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Reuters reported. The leaders were expected to remain behind closed doors for the day and would emerge to outline a new-look defence body for the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the news agency quoted sources close to the meeting as saying. The SADC defence and security arm is currently chaired by President Robert Mugabe and operates independently of the SADC chairman. Under proposals at the summit the chairmanship will be decided by a vote and will rotate annually among the 14 nations that make up SADC. It will no longer be able to call a meeting unilaterally or to use the body without authority. In his opening remarks, President Sam Nujoma urged unity on the issue. "Regional decision-making should be vested in regional institutions in which member states take decisions collectively through consensus and still retain the feeling of belonging among our organisation's 14 member states," he said. "SADC's restructuring will require from all its 14 member states to adopt an attitude of compromise, consensus and a spirit of give and take."