Amid global calls to combat poverty in Africa, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called on African nations to stop "begging" during the opening Monday of an African summit attended by more than 50 leaders from this continent. Gadhafi also urged African countries to overcome past failures. "Pleading to the G-8 to lift debts won't make a future for Africa," said Gadhafi, wearing his traditional African dress while praising Africa's natural resources and treasures. "We need cooperation between the big and the small countries in the world." "Begging won't make a future for Africa," he was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also attended the opening of the two-day meeting, held during a series of international protests and Live-8 concerts ahead of Wednesday's Group of Eight meeting of wealthy nations at the Gleneagles resort in Scotland African leaders meeting in Sirte, a coastal city on Libya's Mediterranean coast, are expected to try unite and push for at least one permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. The summit is also expected to discuss conflicts in Africa, particularly the Darfur crisis, and issue and international appeal to help the continent battle disease and famine during the two-day summit. The 53-nation African Union was created in 2002 as the successor to the Organization of African Unity.
