An African Union summit has ended in confusion over the future of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's dream of establishing a continental government. Mr. Gaddafi appears determined to push toward creation of a United States of Africa during his year as AU chairman, despite opposition from the continent's most influential powers.
非洲联盟首脑会议在混乱中结束，这是由于利比亚领袖卡扎菲要成立一个跨全非洲大陆政府的梦想前途不明。卡扎菲看来决意要在自己担任非盟主席的一年中推进非洲合众国的成立，尽管非洲大陆最有影响力的国家都反对这样做。
Meetings of African leaders usually run two days, but this summit in Addis Ababa dragged into a fourth day with members deadlocked over AU chairman Gaddafi's proposal for a central administration with sweeping powers. Most heads of state had departed by the time a compromise was struck that allowed Mr. Gaddafi to declare victory.
非洲领导人的会议通常只开两天，但是这次在亚的斯亚贝巴的峰会却延续到第四天，因为成员国在非盟主席卡扎菲关于成立独掌大权的中央管理机制的提议上形成僵局。大多数国家的元首在达成妥协让卡扎菲宣布胜利的时候，都已经离开了会场。
"It is a government of the union. It is an authority, a government. There will be secretaries ... coordinators for various policies, like defense and foreign affairs and defense policies and foreign policies that are divergent and we will coordinate everything and our defense policies for Africa," the Libyan president said.
卡扎菲说：“这是一个联盟的政府。这是一个行政当局、一个政府。这个政府里将设有部长，也就是各种政策的协调人，例如， 国防、外交事务，各国的国防方针和外交政策是有不同的，而我们将为整个非洲协调一切、包括协调我们的国防政策。”
Mr. Gaddafi admitted there are deep divisions among member states about his idea, but in a speech to the closing summit session, Mr. Gaddafi outlined a long-term vision of a fully united Africa, under one flag.
卡扎菲承认，非盟成员国之间对他的想法存在严重分歧，但是卡扎菲在闭幕式上的讲话里简述了在一面旗帜下完全团结一致的非洲的远景目标。
"We need the peoples of Africa, traditional forces of women and youth who can use their energies to push us to reach the final phase, which is the United States of Africa, which will be like the United States of America today," he said.
他说：“我们需要非洲各国人民、也需要妇女和年轻一代的传统力量，他们能运用自己的能量推动我们抵达最终目标，那就是非洲合众国，就像美利坚合众国一样。”
Special meeting planned
Mr. Gaddafi says a special meeting of African foreign ministers will be held in three months to discuss getting the union project off the ground.
卡扎菲说，非洲国家外长特别会议将在三个月后举行，他们将讨论如何启动这一联合项目。
But his high-profile optimism covered over the low-key determination of a majority of African leaders to kill, or at least indefinitely postpone the creation of a continental government.
但是他广为宣扬的乐观态度掩盖了大多数非洲领导人要扼杀这一主张的暗暗决心、至少要无限期地拖延这一项目。
Only a handful of heads of state were in the room to hear the Libyan leader's closing remarks. But most of Africa's big powers, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are sticking to the position that it will not be a government with sovereign powers for the foreseeable future.
只有一小部分国家领袖在会场内听取这位利比亚领袖的闭幕词。大多数非洲大国，例如埃及、埃塞俄比亚、乌干达、肯尼亚、坦桑尼亚和南非都坚持他们的立场，那就是：在可见的未来决不成立一个拥有一切主权的跨国政府。
They left it to African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping to explain to reporters that moving to a union government would be a long-drawn out process.
他们让非盟委员会主席让.平来告诉记者，这一迈向联合政府的进程相当漫长。
"The initial purpose was to transform into a government of union, then the member states during their discussions think government has a definition which is precise, and we have not yet reached that stage, and we better move from a commission to an authority," Ping said.
他说：“起初的目标是过渡到一个联合政府，然后成员国在讨论中认为，政府应该有一个准确的定义，而我们还没有达到这一阶段，所以我们最好还是从委员会过渡到一个行政当局。”
Long process lies ahead
Ping says even the small step of changing the name of the permanent secretariat from a commission to an authority, as agreed at this summit, could take years, because it requires a charter amendment that must be ratified by two-thirds of the member states.
让.平说，在这次峰会上达成一致意见的是把这个常任秘书处的名义从委员会改为行政当局，但是即便这小小的步骤也可能得经过几年时间，因为这需要修正宪章，并得到三分之二成员国的同意。
This summit has left no doubt that Mr. Gaddafi is determined to set the wheels of a union government in motion during his one-year term as AU Chairman. But African diplomats and observers say the name change agreed to at this summit gives opponents of the plan the time they to delay it indefinitely.
这次峰会令人相信卡扎菲决心要在自己担任非盟主席的一年时间里推动成立联合政府。但是非洲外交人士和观察人士都说，在这次峰会上大家一致通过的改名步骤，让反对这一计划的人得到时间可以无限拖延有关计划的进行。 |