LOME, June 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Leaders from the Community of Sahel and Sahara states gathered for their seventh summit Wednesday in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, to seek concrete progress toward African integration.

    In a keynote speech, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore called on his colleagues to inject new vitality to the organization to ensure greater economic, political, social and cultural compatibility among these countries.

    He asked to strengthen cooperation and consolidation so as to foster an Africa with political stability and capability of sustainable economic development.

    Citing the threat posed by globalization, Compaore tried to solicit a commitment for real integration from the leaders attending the meeting, while calling on them to strike out an integration framework in the spirit of solidarity and dialogue, and lay out a series of economic and social policies accordingly.

    "(This globalization) plunges millions of urban and rural workers into despair -- it is the responsibility of this grouping to pull them out, for ourselves and for the emancipation of our own countries," said Compaore.

    Countries grouped under the Community of Sahel and Sahara are among the world's poorest, with paltry infrastructure, few economic assets and populations chronically threatened by hunger, diseases and, more importantly, civil conflict that compounds both.

    Compaore also paid tribute to Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi, the highest coordinator of the organization, for his efforts in seeking solutions to conflicts among member states.

    Mali's President Amadou Toumany Toure, who has just served his term as executive chairman of the organization, called on the countries to appoint their representatives in an economic, social and cultural council of the organization. The council will be in place before the end of the year.

    Toure said leaders at the summit will also deal with the issues of famine and locusts that threaten many of the already unstable nations.

    The hunger crisis in countries stretching across the bottom of the Sahel is particularly acute this year, following last year's devastating locust invasion, the worst in more than a decade.

    The two-day summit gathered leaders from Libya, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, the Central African Republic, Senegal, Gambia, Djibouti, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Somalia, Togo, Benin, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. Enditem