SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi underlined his maverick reputation Monday by telling African leaders their people's woes would be solved by creating a borderless continent with a single passport.

Asking for foreign aid would lead to humiliating failure, he said.

"Begging will not make the future of Africa, (instead) it creates a greater gap between the great ones and the small ones," he told the opening session of a summit of the 53-nation African Union (AU) in his home town Sirte.

The veteran leader's vision has had little impact on the agenda of the AU, due to adopt a broadly favorable stance on a British-backed drive for more help for Africa to be presented to this week's Group of Eight summit.

But few delegates in Sirte were prepared to offer public criticism of Gaddafi or his ambitions.

Gaddafi has since 1999 pushed for the creation of a United States of Africa, complete with its own parliament and institutions. He says his plan does not necessarily mean a country's sovereignty will be sacrificed.

Banners at the summit read "The United States of Africa is the hope" and "Enough plundering of African resources."

Not wanting to offend Gaddafi, whose oil wealth and aggressive diplomacy have won him friends around the continent, African leaders praised the ideas and agreed to review them.

In power since a 1969 coup, Gaddafi says African nations must unite to survive in an increasingly globalized world.

The ideas sound seductive to many ordinary Africans who admire his anti-Western opinions and pride in the continent.

"We are one single nation ... we need to a unique African common market that is competitive," said Gaddafi, dressed in a purple traditional robe and hat.

"Fifty percent of gold in the world is in Africa, 95 percent of diamonds are in Africa and 95 percent of platinum is found in Africa ... it's a very rich continent, but it is not exploited (by Africans)," he said.

RALLYING CALL

Gaddafi made African unity a rallying call after failing to get fellow Arab leaders to support his campaign for a united Arab nation.

Critics of Gaddafi question his motives, describing the Union as a pitch for power in the continent. Others question the practicalities.

"His views are not in line with the rest of Africa on a number of issues," said Sue Mbaya, director of the Pretoria-based Southern African Regional Poverty Network.

An African diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Gaddafi is a maverick and will remain a maverick."

Few at the summit were prepared to comment on a passage in his speech on AIDS.

Gaddafi told the leaders of a continent where 2 million people die of AIDS every year that the pandemic was not a problem, according to an official translation. He instead attacked drugs firms for making money off AIDS.

(Additional reporting by Manoah Esipisu)

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The question is how accepting would Northern Africans be of this devised plan. Libyans and other Northern Africans are a little melanophobic against other people further south. Gaddafi could not stop anti-black race riots that occured in Tripoli,nor could he force Libyans to intermarry with Africans further south. Northern Africans are very melanophobic,and Gaddafi's policies will not change this.

In Europe, most of the nationalities are based on ethnicity i.e. France for the French, Spain for the Spanish, Germany for Germans, Switzerland for the Swiss etc.

In Africa, thanks to colonialism, borders have divided various ethnic groups and united different ones into a single nation.

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Originally posted by ausar:

The question is how accepting would Northern Africans be of this devised plan. Libyans and other Northern Africans are a little melanophobic against other people further south. Gaddafi could not stop anti-black race riots that occured in Tripoli,nor could he force Libyans to intermarry with Africans further south. Northern Africans are very melanophobic,and Gaddafi's policies will not change this.

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The problem with Africa is the weakness of its currencies and a stupid fixation on the West. A continent of 900 million people could foster inter-African trade using just one, two or three convertible currencies and those capital goods that are needed for development could be easily bought from East Asia--from autos to ships to airplanes and trains. So who needs the West? This incessant chatter from stupid suit and tie negroes about "Blair's Commission" or NEPAD should just cease.

Kaddafi a terrorist? Well who is more terrorist Kaddafi, Bush, Blair, Chirac, Shroeder or Berlusonni?

Africa, needs to start out with some regional unity, before it confronts continental unity. For example, North Africa could unite itself, but there is too much bickering for this to happen anytime soon.

Egypt and Libya, could also unite, and this used to be part of Qaddaffi's old vision, but Egyptians are adamantly against this union.

Also, Egypt and the Sudan can unite, but the Sudan itself is divided between the Arab North and Black South. even though many could argue that both groups are mostly Black Africans.

Africa, does need help, but not so much like what Qaddaffi has in mind.

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Originally posted by lamin:
Kaddafi is only recommending that Africa adopt Nkrumah's blueprint for Africa expressed in his book "Africa Must Unite". The problem of North Africa is a simple one: Kaddafi himself admitted that 30% of Libya is black. And the rest of North Africa? Well, Africa is for Africans in the past, the present and the n future. If the degenerate crew from North Africa feel uncomfortable with a borderless Africa then they should just leave and return where they infiltrated from.

The problem with Africa is the weakness of its currencies and a stupid fixation on the West. A continent of 900 million people could foster inter-African trade using just one, two or three convertible currencies and those capital goods that are needed for development could be easily bought from East Asia--from autos to ships to airplanes and trains. So who needs the West? This incessant chatter from stupid suit and tie negroes about "Blair's Commission" or NEPAD should just cease.

Kaddafi a terrorist? Well who is more terrorist Kaddafi, Bush, Blair, Chirac, Shroeder or Berlusonni?

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So why not an African or regional passports. Backward Russia is as big as Africa below the Equator yet the poverty stricken Russians have one passport. And there's indeed a European passport.