Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says much of Africa's violence is due to foreign meddling and that Israel in particular is to blame for stoking conflicts there.

Gaddafi's comments came Monday during an extraordinary African Union summit scheduled to coincide with a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Gaddafi to power.





Africa Union summit (Photo: AFP)

The Libyan leader blamed much of Africa's violence on what he described as intervention by unnamed "foreign powers," bent on plundering Africa's natural resources.

While Gaddafi and other African leaders often blame foreign hands for stoking internal divisions, this was one of the most explicit and targeted Gaddafi outbursts in many years.

Like most Arab countries, Libya does not recognize Israel.