AU summit ends

Madagascar's exclusion, new developments on Zimbabwe and the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were the focus of the last day of the African Union (AU) summit in Durban, South Africa. African leaders remained resolute in their decision to exclude Madagascar from the AU on Wednesday, at the closing session of the Organisation of African Unity's (OAU) successor. In a statement, the AU reiterated calls for fresh elections in the country saying that the 16 December elections were not legally constituted and therefore the decision, by the OAU's central organ last week, to bar the Indian Ocean island from taking up its seat, would be upheld. Several key western countries had moved to normalise relations with President Marc Ravalomanana. Ravalomanana, in the last week, has captured all of the provinces previously under the control of his political rival, former President Didier Ratsiraka. South African President Thabo Mbeki said that the decision to freeze Madagascar's AU seat was a "matter of principle that was decided on its merits rather than what the rest of the world was doing". "These elections must be transparent and free and organised with the assistance of the AU and the United Nations," the statement on summit decisions said. The statement also called on the island's leadership to work together to rebuild the country. African leaders also stressed the need for the establishment of a single African army. Mbeki has been tasked with setting up a panel of experts to examine the matter and come up with recommendations. The summit appointed outgoing OAU Secretary-General Amara Essy interim chairman of the AU Commission, for a year. Meanwhile, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he had held positive talks with Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe, on Tuesday and urged him to meet with Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon. Obasanjo said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was heartened by the meeting between the two heads of state and had expressed "interest in meeting with Mugabe". "We are making progress, it may not be as fast as some people would like, but we are making progress," Obasanjo said. The Nigerian president, Mbeki and Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, constituted the troika that suspended Zimbabwe following the controversial presidential election in March this year. "We were two African leaders, Mbeki and myself, in the troika. Does this not say something about our commitment to censure other Africans when it is necessary. If we can do that [then] we can do even stronger things, if necessary," he said. The African Peer Review mechanism allows for sanctions should countries fail to meet criteria under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). While being a signatory to the mechanism is not compulsory, countries that chose to remain outside the mechanism would still be subjected to the Peace and Security Council, a key organ of the AU. The council will have the leverage to intervene in the affairs of member states to assist and monitor human rights abuses and help prevent conflict. On the sidelines of the summit, Rwandan President, Paul Kagame confirmed his country's commitment to become part of the peer review mechanism. Kagame also said efforts to resolve the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) "had been stalled and needed to be revisited". Rwandan and DRC representatives have been meeting on the sidelines of the summit. Rwanda accuses the DRC government of harbouring ethnic Hutu militias who it blames for the slaughter 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. In his closing remarks Mbeki said: "Expectations around the continent of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development are indeed very high. We are all elected to meet those expectations."