United States of Africa?

Could it be?

If Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, leader of Libya, has his way, there will be a United States of Africa and within a year. The BBC report on the election of Colonel Gaddafi as President of the African Union, talks about the new leader's goals for his time at the helm.

"I shall continue to insist that our sovereign countries work to achieve the United States of Africa," he said in his inaugural speech.

But he admitted that African leaders were "not near to a settlement" on the issue.

He told fellow summit leaders that his unity project would be approved at the next meeting in July unless there was a majority against it, reports the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt from Addis Ababa.

An "African Hand" suggested:

Oil and clever handling of the West resulted in forgiveness for Gaddafi, but he is a man to be watched.

By "to be watched" the commentator did not mean like we watch star football players on the field.

But, further and dramatic unification of the 53 nations that form the African Union would be an interesting development. That it would be a good development is open to debate, but we can hope.

Regards  --  Cliff