The African Union (AU) started its 13th summit in Sirte, Libya on Wednesday, with UN, Arab, African leaders calling for collective and resolute actions to face challenges on agricultural investment and regional peace and security. AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT, FOOD SECURITY The three-day summit in Sirte, 500 km southeast of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, is dedicated to 'investing in agriculture for economic growth and food security' in the world's poorest continent. Addressing the opening ceremony of the summit, Deputy Secretary- General of the United Nations Asha-Rose Migiro said more than half of all Africans currently live in extreme poverty, calling on African leaders to 'use this summit to mobilize action to protect the poorest and most vulnerable and prevent more from joining their ranks.' She underlined the importance in investing in agriculture, saying it creates jobs and 'It can make economic growth more durable. And it can increase food and nutritional security.' The senior UN official called on African countries to set up their 'national strategy for agricultural development' and live up to their pledges to raise agricultural spending to 10 percent of the national budget. African countries have once pledged to spend an average of 10 percent of their total national budget on agriculture but only a few countries have fulfilled their promises. AU's choice of agricultural investment as the theme of its 13th summit is against the backdrop of last year's food crisis and financial turmoil, from which African leaders realized that agriculture plays a key role in the economic growth and food security of the continent. Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa said in his address to the AU summit that the choice of agriculture development and food security as the theme of this summit is a 'wise response to Africa's real needs,' considering that 265 million people in sub- Saharan Africa currently go hungry, an increase of almost 12 percent over last year. In the past two years, the AU and AL experts have conducted research on joint plans in agriculture and food security, and 'We are working towards holding an AL-AU agriculture ministerial meeting to hammer out these plans,' he said. REGIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY ISSUES Meanwhile, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said 'Now we are in the same city, and the same hall, where we decided 10 years ago to establish the African Union in order to deal with the obstacles that face the continent and to push for ... development and stability.' He hoped the African leaders could also boost the pan-Africa body's profile in resolving international disputes. Moreover, the deputy UN secretary-general also warned of the daunting challenges to peace and political stability faced by some African countries, saying that 'we must act resolutely together to end the scourge of violence and conflict that still bedevils our beloved continent.' The African leaders are expected to discuss means of strengthening the role of the AU in the prevention, management and resolution of election disputes and violent conflicts in the world's poorest continent, according to the draft agenda of the summit. They will also explore ways to prevent unconstitutional changes of government and to strengthen the capacity of the AU to deal with such situations. A number of hot regional issues, such as security situation in Mauritania, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Sudan's Darfur region, are expected to be discussed by the African heads of state and government. According to a statement released by the AU, the pan-African grouping has decided to lift the sanctions against Mauritania which were imposed on the former French colony after a military coup last year. Also present at the three-day summit are Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Premier Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, which will host a Group of Eight summit next week. The 13th summit was previously scheduled for July in the Indian Ocean island country of Madagascar. But due to its political stalemate, Madagascar was suspended the AU membership in March and later cancelled the hosting of the three-day summit. The AU, established in 2002 to replace the Organization of African Unity that was founded in 1963, aimed at preserving and promoting peace and stability in the African continent, carrying out the strategy of reform and poverty reduction and realizing the development and renewal of Africa. 