Sunday, July 1, 2007

AU summit: Reporter's diary-Yahya Jammeh boycotts summit!

SUNDAY 1 JULY

Opening session of the ninth session of the African Union summit, Accra
Journalists were barred from the opening ceremony
1430 GMT
News of a gift from China for Africa. The meeting apparently ended with a presentation about the buildings that China is going to construct for the AU. A multi-storey building headquarters in Addis Ababa is on the list.

1410 GMT
News starts to trickle out of what's been going on inside the venue. Ghana's President John Kufuor said that given the formation of political and economic groupings on other continents, Africa can be said to be running against time in its efforts at integration. But he did not say how far he thinks the integration should go or at what speed. He didn't say if he was in the hare camp like Gaddafi or if he is in the tortoise camp.

1315 GMT
The presidents are leaving the venue and heading off for lunch. They are not due back here until tomorrow but we assume they won't get a 20-hour lunch. I have just found out that there are many late-comers. The Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni, for example, is not due in Ghana until tonight.

1240 GMT
A Ghanaian lady dressed in pink is at the head of a group of frustrated journalists walking towards the venue entry with a petition calling for access. It doesn't seem to be working and the arguments with the security guards are getting louder.

1115 GMT
Although we were supposed to be able to access the opening ceremony, journalists were barred and have been sent away to the media tent. The media, unlike Colonel Gaddafi, is tiring of life in a tent. It is frustrating and difficult to find out what is happening inside the venue.

Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi, Ghanaian President John Kufuor and South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki get together for a photo
Ghanaian President John Kufuor gave the opening speech
0945 GMT
The sirens are getting louder and the presidents' convoys are beginning to screech into the venue with more security guards, these ones jogging beside the cars.

0740 GMT
Not happy has now turned to fury. "We told you to move. Now remove them," yells the security co-ordinator as his deputies march off with our satellite equipment under their arms. If they had stayed long enough I would have told them it's not wise to hug a satellite disk when it is switched on, unless you're trying a new form of contraception.

0730 GMT
Ghanaian security officials are not happy with the position we've chosen for our live reporting for BBC World. Our camera is under a tree, about 150m from the conference centre. We've been asked to move to the back of the venue - which would be ideal if we happened to be making a documentary about a day in the life of a catering company but not ideal for our needs.

0700 GMT
Heading for the venue the long way round, roads are blocked off all over the place.

SATURDAY 30 JUNE

Colonel Gaddafi
Gaddafi has chosen to stay in a tent rather than a presidential lodge

2330 GMT
As Muammar Gaddafi zips up his tent somewhere in Accra the other leaders getting ready for the three-day African Unity debate are probably pacing up and down their brand new homes learning the words for "Not so fast Muammar."

2000 GMT
On the radio I learn the list of presidents not attending the summit has grown to at least two.

The Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, is not turning up and that has caused some anger here. More than 40 Ghanaians died in mysterious circumstances in the Gambia two years ago and there have been allegations that the Gambian security services were involved.

With no investigation yet carried out, many here believe the Gambian leader has decided to stay at home to avoid awkward questions.

His claim that he can cure Aids by laying his hands on people and administering his own herbal remedy is also unlikely to face a close examination any time soon.

The other leader not attending is Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir. He is attending the funeral of a colleague but not surprisingly there are also accusations that he is choosing to stay out of the firing line - on Darfur.

Yahya Jammeh
The absence of the Gambian leader has caused some anger

He is instead sending long range verbal missiles from Khartoum via a satellite news conference beamed around the world.

"Sudan has enemies who want to tear Sudan and seize its wealth, especially oil, and because of this we are targeted by organised media campaigns that broadcast to the world that there has been genocide and ethnic cleansing," he has said.

1715 GMT
Waiting for a lift back to the conference centre I am handed a piece of paper.

It reads: "Pan Afrikan United Front warmly invites you to an international solidarity forum for Zimbabwe . Come and hear the truth about the fight against neo-colonialism and imperialism in Zimbabwe. Special Guest: Prez. Robert Mugabe. Solidarity dress code black trousers or skirts."

1700 GMT
As the red carpet is rolled up I interview a few members of the audience.

Most love the idea of African Unity and are glad Gaddafi is trying to push it, but they tell me it is not going to happen soon.

"If our leaders cannot sort out Darfur then how will they come together to solve the continent's problems," one student tells me.

1650 GMT
The shades are back on and the Libyan leader is off amid loud cheers.

1530 GMT
The crowd start cheering but then realise the man who has just walked into the room is a Gaddafi look alike - maybe he was sent in to test whether he would make a good body double.

If he had borrowed the Colonel's shades he would have got a bigger cheer.

Gaddafi is not far behind and arrives clenched fist in the air wearing a shirt emblazoned with the face of Pan African leaders.

Several serious looking women in army boots and camouflage guard have taken up positions guarding the stage and their eyes are darting around the room at an astonishing rate.

Colonel Gaddafi
Gaddafi wants one government for the whole continent

"Slogan Slogan" shouts one of his aides from the stage. "Long Live Gaddafi. Long Live Gaddafi," he adds. The crowd catch on slowly.

After about 99 introductory speeches, Muammar Gaddafi takes the microphone and shocks us all by starting off his speech in English.

"I am just a soldier for Africa. I am just a citizen of Africa like you," he says.

His message is clear and the crowd like it - he wants Africa to unite and to form one government for the whole continent.

He seems rather worried about African countries facing imminent invasion by a foreign force and so he calls for a Pan African army of two million soldiers.

"No one can attack Luxembourg," he declares. I must admit I did not expect to be scribbling the word Luxembourg in my notebook today but his point is that because Luxembourg is in the EU and Nato, Luxembourg is safe from attack (even by China, he says).

1500 GMT
Gaddafi seems to be on the way and the security men - mostly suited Libyans with dyed black hair - are getting twitchy.

I have just been politely called into a room off the hall to be frisked - I decline, saying a public frisk is as good as he is getting.

More security men are called over and the politeness is disappearing but I insist I will not be disappearing into a room with the men in the suits.

1440 GMT
The main university hall is packed and many people are wearing T-shirts with Gaddafi's face on them.

With free T-shirts and buses ferrying people to the venue - it could be an election anywhere in Africa . But hang on a minute, there is no election in Ghana so what is the Colonel up to?

He is campaigning for the mama of all elections - the United States Of Africa.

1400 GMT
Presidents from around the continent have been jetting in for the three-day African Union Summit.

But I am heading to Legon University to find an African leader who decided not come by air, although he may have used up more fuel than a Jumbo.

Muammar Gaddafi came by road in a huge convoy via Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast and apparently he is not staying in one of the newly-built presidential lodges, he has brought a tent - not a two-man tent I suppose.

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