Gadhafi elected African Union leader

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi has assumed the chairmanship of the 53-nation African Union, a spokeswoman says.

AU spokeswoman Habiba Mejri-Sheikh told the BBC that Gadhafi was elected "by the heads of state in a closed-door session, for a one-year period." He replaces Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

Delegates to this week's AU summit in Addis Ababa said Gadhafi was seen to be the obvious choice to be the group's new leader but some delegates told the broadcaster are uneasy about his nomination.

Libya has proposed setting up a single government called the United States of Africa. But in a compromise, summit-goers instead agreed to transform the African Union Commission, which oversees the body, into the AU Authority, which will have a broader mandate.