African leaders are to converge in Nigerian capital Abuja to tackle food security, health problems and conflicts on the world's poorest continent as the fourth African Union (AU) summit comes up Sunday.

So far, about 40 African heads of state have confirmed their intention to attend the two-day summit, said Desmond Orjiako, spokesman with the 53-member pan-African body, on Friday.

Three of them will be in Abuja Saturday while more are expected to arrive the day after Saturday, Orjiako said, adding that the others might be "very much represented."

British Minister for Africa Chris Mullin and Michael Ranneberger, US principal deputy assistant secretary for African affairs in the Department of State, are already in Abuja for the summit, he said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is also due to attend the summit, the UN said.

Achieving food security and curbing the ravages of disease such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa will be the top themes, the spokesman said.

"International security, food security and the need for urgent solutions to diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria ravaging Africa shall be the focal points," Orjiako told a pre-summit briefing.

He said that the AU shall examine and proffer solutions to obstacles on the continent's path to greatness, including the two-year crisis in Darfur, western Sudan, in which thousands were killed and one million others displaced.

Efforts shall also be made to check the proliferation of arms on the continent, a situation the spokesman said was responsible for the general insecurity.

The prevalence of the crises is also largely responsible for the food shortage in some countries, noted Orjiako.

Meanwhile, the AU, faced with more responsibilities and fewer members paying their dues since its transformation from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) three years ago, is seeking alternatives sources of funding its activities, he said, naming a planned tax on air travels in Africa as one option.

He, however, expressed optimism that more African countries would be prepared to pay their dues to the regional body if they were assured of benefits from its activities.

"The AU dimensions are broader and we have adopted plans that would address the core questions and impact on the lives of the members," he said. "OAU found it difficult to get members to pay their dues because it functioned as an administrative body with little impact on the progress of member states. AU is entirely different."

In addition, the AU Executive Council, which held its sixth ordinary session in Abuja Friday, has recommended observer status to its partners, according to Magareth Vogt, executive director inthe office of the AU Chairman, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.

"The Council recommended observer status to its friends and institutions. AU for instance has observer status at the European Union and it is only fair to reciprocate that gesture," Vogt said.

Source: Xinhua