TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday African leaders meeting in Ethiopia this week should stop wasting time and unite in a single government to stop foreign powers taking control of the continent.

"The (summit) will be decisive. It will either put an end to stalling and time wasting on the unification of Africa or prove there is a conspiracy which vetoes African unity," Gaddafi was quoted as saying by the Libyan state news agency Jana.

The alternative to a single government was to sell out Africa, "divide it up between the international powers and neglect its future and that of its sons", he said.

The veteran leader of the North African oil exporter has long campaigned for a federal African government that can meet the challenges of globalisation, fight poverty and resolve conflicts on the continent without interference from the West.

Gaddafi lobbied hard for a United States of Africa during an African Union (AU) summit in Ghana last July but the meeting ended with only an agreement to study how it might be created.

All 53 AU member countries agree with the goal of African integration but some led by South Africa, a leading power on the continent, say it must be a gradual process.

Disagreements have already emerged over an official language, betraying the scale of the challenge ahead.

It was unclear if Gaddafi would attend the Addis Ababa summit beginning on Thursday.