African leaders began their three-day session of the African Union's (AU) annual summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday, with security issues high on their agenda.

Leaders participating in the third ordinary session of the AU assembly include African heads of state and government such as South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo as well as Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano, out-going chairman of the regional bloc.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is also participating in the meeting.

The AU has come up with an ambitious plan of development and integration for the summit's adoption, however, practical matters such as security situation on the world's poorest continent will probably dominate the agenda.

The AU's development plan itself puts a premium on peace and security, naming it as major condition for the continent's farewell to poverty. With an envisaged standby force and early warning system, the AU has launched a peace and security council.

The AU's priority on peace and security is to stand a touchstone during and after the summit, as western Sudan's Darfur crisis looms into a major headline dominating media reports on Africa.

The issue of Darfur is likely one of the main topics in the AU summit, with security issues likely to dominate the high level talks held in the Ethiopian capital.