NAIROBI, (AFP) - The African Union (AU) will be taking part in next year's celebrations to mark the 60th birthday of late reggae legend Bob Marley which will be held in Ethiopia.

AU Commission chairman Alpha Omar Konare accepted Marley's widow request for the pan-African body to partner in the commemoration scheduled for February 2005, an AU statement said yesterday.

Rita Marley visited Konare in Ethiopia on Thursday.
The feat, to be held in Addis Ababa, "will include many events such as musical concerts by famous black music", the statement added.

Konare said Marley, who died of cancer in 1981, "build a bridge between Africa and the Diaspora".

"His message based on unity of Africa and his struggle to promote values such as freedom and justice is today duly reflected in the African Union. We can give to Bob Marley only part of what he has given us," Konare said in the statement.

Ethiopia was the home of emperor Haile Selassie, the founder of the rastafarian movement in which Marley belonged.

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