The leaders of Sudan, Chad, Congo Republic, which heads the 53-nation African Union, and Burkina Faso, which chairs the Sub Sahara Sahel African grouping, will join Gaddafi in the meeting, they said.

Sudan and Chad are members of the Sahel grouping.

Foreign ministers and other top government representatives of the five countries met on Monday to prepare for the summit, they added.

"We are meeting today to go beyond the tension between Chad and Sudan and reach practical solutions to overcome the negative issues between the two countries," Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam told the meeting of ministers.

He added that: "We are meeting to prepare for the summit that will take place after tomorrow in Libya".

"The gathering aims at strengthening the links and overcome the tensions," he added.

Chad and Sudan, whose leaders both have good relations with Gaddafi, accuse each other of backing insurgents fighting the governments in N'Djamena and Khartoum.