Ugandan leader urges harmony at Afro-Arab meeting

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called for an end to racial and religious tensions between Africa's mainly Arab north and its largely black sub-Saharan region, saying they could cause conflict.

"When the Arab says: ‘I am superior', then the African says: ‘go to hell. Who are you?'. That is a waste of time. It divides us," Museveni told an Afro-Arab youth festival in Kampala.

"To be together, we don't need to be the same. It is sacrilegious when one group tries to suppress the language and culture of the other," Museveni said late on Wednesday, warning that: "disrespect for one's religion will create conflict".

Uganda's northern neighbor Sudan has been torn by conflict between Arab and African groups for decades, first between north and south and then over the western Darfur region. Similar animosities have fuelled struggles in other states too.

The gathering of more than 5,000 youths, mostly from Arab countries, is being sponsored by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who is due to arrive in Uganda at the weekend to unveil the east African country's biggest mosque.

Africa, which has become the arena for the world's emerging economic powers to flex their muscles, is benefiting from a new wave of Arab investment by big companies from the Middle East and North Africa.

Analysts say the investment, mainly in the service sector from telecoms to banking and transport, may help bridge longstanding rifts that emerged with the slave trade.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ )

(Reporting by Francis Kwera, Editing by Katie Nguyen)