AU chairman to tackle continent's security hotspots

Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi, newly elected as African Union President, participates in the 18th African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa January 30, 2012.

COTONOU (Reuters) - African Union Chairman Boni Yayi will visit some of the continent's conflict areas including Sudan and South Sudan, Mali and Libya for direct talks, an aide said on Saturday.

Yayi, also president of Benin, had been hosting an informal summit of the continent's leaders in Cotonou focusing on security, especially in the Sahel, piracy and the threat posed in Nigeria by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

"A road map has been drawn to allow the presidency of the AU to progressively and effectively tackle the different crises through direct discussions with the various protagonists," Mariam Diallo, a diplomatic adviser to Yayi, told reporters after the meeting.

Diallo gave no further details nor a timetable and no statement was issued at the end of the meeting, which was attended by about a dozen African heads of state including those from South Africa, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Rwanda and Togo.

(Reporting by Samuel Elijah; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Alison Williams)