Enriching Africa

Muammar Gadafy, the Libyan president, was in typically defiant mood when he opened an African Union summit in Sirte on the Libyan coast.

"We are not going to beg at the doorsteps to reduce debt .... We are insulted constantly and we deserve it. We don't need assistance and charity," Mr Gadafy told some 50 African leaders.

The eccentric Libyan leader received only tepid applause from the audience for he was hardly on message. Unlike Gadafy, other African leaders have welcomed the efforts of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to boost aid and provide debt relief for the continent at this year's G8 summit.

"The message is simple. The message is that the G8 should cancel the debts of all African countries," Charles Murigande, Rwanda's foreign minister, told Reuters.

Yet in a sense, Mr Gadafy is right to preach self-reliance.