Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi dampened the lively spirit at the launch of the African Union (AU) in Durban on Tuesday by publicly backing beleaguered Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, telling white farmers to leave the former British colony if they did not want to be ruled by a black man.
African heads of state sat hand-in-chin as Gaddafi, speaking in English, attacked white farmers in Zimbabwe, some of whom are defying a government order to stop farming land targeted for seizure by the state.
Throwing his hands in the air and almost toppling the microphone, Gaddafi stood up to make two points: that Africa was free of colonialists and racists, and that Zimbabwe's white farmers should pack and go "if they don't want to serve us".
He also pledged his support for Mugabe.
He said a new day for Africa had dawned with the launch of the AU, screaming "no more racism and colonialism".
"The land of Africa is for Africans. South Africa is for Africans. You are strong now.
"If they (Zimbabwe's white farmers) want to go, they must go," he shouted to much applause by the teeming admirers crowding the Absa stadium.
Gaddafi has thrust himself into the public limelight since he landed in Durban on Saturday, a few days after his security contingent, with a 60-strong motorcade arriving for the burial of the Organisation of African Unity and birth of the AU.
Mugabe, meanwhile, has kept a low profile since his arrival, with gay and lesbian groups earlier reported to be planning a protest against his tough anti-homosexual stance back home.
Even at Tuesday's AU launch, his arrival at the stadium was almost unnoticed, tailing behind the thunderous applause accorded former president Nelson Mandela.
