Meanwhile, media reports being monitored by AfricaNews have it that the African heads of state at the dawn of today approved a plan to enhance the powers of the AU. The plan mandates the AU to coordinate defence policy and trade negotiations, Reuters quoted a participant at the summit to have said.

The report said a document enhancing the powers of the African Union's executive body was approved at about 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) after many hours of discussions at the summit, Benin's Foreign Minister Jean-Marie Ehouzou, told reporters.

"We have given agreement for the coordination of foreign affairs and defence," he said. "The states are ready to cede a little bit a part of their sovereignty for the benefit of the (Union)."

The document has to be ratified by member states' parliaments before it comes into force.

The structure will create a president, a vice-president, and a secretary of peace and security and common defence, BBC news said. Other secretaries will replace the current union's commissioners.