Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has said much of Africa's violence is due to foreign meddling, pointing the accusing finger at Israel.
Gaddafi, who is also chairman of the African Union (AU), was speaking on Monday at a special summit of the group, which is coinciding with the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power.
Israel is "behind all of Africa's conflicts", Gaddafi told about 30 African leaders gathered under a huge tent at Tripoli airport.
"As African brothers, we must find solutions to stop the superpowers who are pillaging our continent," he said.
He demanded the closure of all Israeli embassies across Africa, describing Israel as a "gang" and saying it uses "the protection of minorities as an excuse to launch conflicts".
Israel has acknowledged operating what it called a forward policy in Africa between the 1960s and 1980s, intervening in wars in Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan.
Gaddafi claimed that a Darfur rebel group had opened an office in Tel Aviv while its leader lives under French protection, a reference to Abdelwahid Mohammed Nur, the head of the Sudan Liberation Army who lives in exile in Paris, France.
Al Jazeera's Amr El-Kahky, reporting from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, said: "Libya is portraying itself as opening up, but it is still holding to the same principle: which is anti-Israel feeling, and that is what we have heard from Colonel Gaddafi today, saying that people - the African nations - should shy away from the Israelis because they are the ones behind all the African problems."
Source: Al Jazeera (English)
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