Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat has been elected as the new chairperson of the African Union Commission, in a vote held at the bloc's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa yesterday. After seven rounds of voting, the Chadian Foreign Affairs Minister defeated favourites Amina Mohamed of Kenya and Senegal's Abdoulaye Bathily. Heads of State from the 54-member countries cast their vote in a private ballot. <br/><br/>The African Union also decided yesterday to allow Morocco back in the fold after a 33-year absence despite stiff resistance from some member states over the status of Western Sahara. Morocco had quit the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1984 after the bloc admitted the former Western Sahara as a separate member.<br/>

Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat has been elected as the new chairperson of the African Union Commission, in a vote held at the bloc's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa yesterday. After seven rounds of voting, the Chadian Foreign Affairs Minister defeated favourites Amina Mohamed of Kenya and Senegal's Abdoulaye Bathily. Heads of State from the 54-member countries cast their vote in a private ballot. Meanwhile, the AU is expected to vote today whether Morocco, the only country in Africa that is not part of the organisation, will be re-admitted into the body.