29 February 2004	Sunday	08 Muharram 1425

SIRTE, Feb 28: Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi's insistence that all African armies should merge into a single military force delayed the closing ceremony of a major African Union summit by several hours on Saturday, delegates said.

"It's never going to work, never. Nobody supports it," one west African delegate told AFP, hours after heads of state from dozens of countries had been due to wrap up the meeting in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte.

When asked why the closing ceremony had not begun on time, several other delegates explained that Qadhafi had once again put the plan on the table.

"Qadhafi thinks that by summoning us here he can impose his views on us. This shows a lack of understanding and respect," said a delegate from another west African state.

Instead, the vast majority of AU member states favour the establishment of a standby military force that would have peacekeeping duties and, in certain dramatic circumstances, such as genocide or other crimes against humanity, would intervene militarily and not necessarily with the approval of the state concerned."Within the next year or so we hope to have the capacity to prevent the kind of tragedy that arose in Rwanda" in 1994, the Kenyan FM explained to journalists.-AFP