The UN secretary-general told African leaders they are confronting "one of the worst nightmares in recent history" in Sudan's war-battered Darfur region, reminding them of the large challenges still facing a continent wracked by fighting, poverty and disease.
"The conflicts in Darfur, Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, and northern Uganda continue to outrun efforts for a solution," Kofi Annan told heads of state at a summit of the 53-member African Union on Saturday.
Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the African Union commission, blamed rampant poverty for Africa's woes.
"There is no doubt that the conflict situations faced by our continent can be explained by its lack of development," Konare said, calling on African leaders to stand up to combatants who rape and kill victims he said are "treated worse than animals."
Besides dozens of African heads of state, the presidents of Iran and Venezuela were on hand for the summit, and called on Africans to challenge the dominance of the US and western Europe in world politics. The presidents of the two oil-rich countries claimed allegiance to Africa's struggle to develop rich resources without becoming a tool of foreign governments.
Annan said there had been progress in Africa, with AIDS rates dropping in some countries, investment up by 200 percent over the last five years and the GDP of half the nations on the continent expected to grow by 5 percent next year.
But "let us not deceive ourselves," he said. "Overall, the number of Africans living in extreme poverty continues to increase. The spread of HIV/AIDS continues to outpace our efforts to halt it. Food security continues to elude us and the environment continues to degrade."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that smart management of natural resources could turn battered economies around.
Annan pressed African leaders to ensure that profits from oil, diamonds are corruption free and make it to more than a privileged few.
"We have to ensure that this new scramble for Africa benefits the women and men of the continent -- and that the agreements which are signed with foreign investors are fair, equitable and stand the test of time," he said.
Annan also decried countries that suppress opposition parties and press freedom. He spoke just steps away from Gambian host President Yahya Jammeh, who has been accused of both.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the spread of poverty and the slow development in Africa can be traced to the world's large powers, which "think the countries and the nations of the world must be their slaves."
Ahmadinejad's visit was seen as an attempt to bolster Iran in its standoff with the US and Europe over its nuclear program.
The Iranian president has made several high-profile trips to Asia, where he drew crowds of Muslims cheering Tehran for defying the West.
On Darfur, the leaders were expected to press Sudan to accept UN peacekeepers to replace an overtaxed African Union force there -- a move Sudan has so far resisted.
The African Union's policymaking peace council made clear this week it wanted the handover and refused to extend the mandate of African Union forces beyond September. The council also announced targeted sanctions against anyone who stands in the way of peace in Darfur.
The Darfur conflict began in early 2003 when members of ethnic African tribes revolted against the Khartoum government. Sudan's government is accused of unleashing Arab militias known as the janjaweed who have been blamed for the worst atrocities.
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