The pan-African parliament on Friday elected four vice-presidents representing the continent's regions, following the election a day earlier of Tanzanian Gertrude Mongella as president of the new assembly, an AFP journalist reported.

Professor Jose Dias van Dunem from Angola is first vice-president to Mongella and will represent the Southern African region, while Mohamed Lutfi Farahat from Libya is second-vice president, representing North Africa.

Loum N.Ne'loumsei from Chad is third vice-president, for central Africa. Jerome Sacca Kina Guezere is vice-president representing West Africa.

The new continental parliament for the African Union (AU) was inaugurated at a ceremony in Addis Ababa on Thursday with the swearing-in of 180 members representing 36 countries that have signed the protocol establishing the assembly.

The new assembly met in the Ethiopian capital until Saturday to debate its budget, and the establishment of various committees and their directors, AU sources said.

Once other states sign up to the protocol, each of AU's 53-member states is expected to send five representatives to the pan-African parliament.

It has not yet been decided where the parliament will be based but Egypt and South Africa are vying to host the assembly, after Libya dropped its bid earlier this week.

The AU, in 2002, succeeded the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was much criticised during its 39 years of existence for being powerless in resolving Africa's myriad conflicts.

The new incarnation is loosely modelled on the European Union and is very keen to portray itself as much more robust and muscular than the OAU.

The organisation intends to create a Peace and Security Council authorised to send in peacekeeping troops drawn from African armies in cases of conflict on the continent. A human rights court is also envisaged. – Sapa-AFP.