The new round of Darfur peace talks kicks off today in Sirte, Libya, where I am currently camped out with dozens of foreign journalists awaiting the opening ceremonies, scheduled to begin about 90 minutes from now. We have been told that Libyan president Moammar Gadhafi may speak, and it seems like an ideal venue for the longtime pariah-turned-wannabe statesman.

The talks are taking place inside a sprawling, multimillion-dollar conference center that Gadhafi recently had built in a bid to make Sirte, his formerly sleepy hometown on the Mediterranean, a political capital of Africa. Much of Sirte looks like it was built overnight. Earlier this week the town hosted a meeting of rebels from Chad, a sort of diplomatic undercard to the widely watched negotiations on Darfur.

Col. Gadhafi's goal might be promoting international diplomacy, but the conference center is all about the man himself. The rotunda of the main hall looks from the street like a new NBA arena, all glass and whitewashed concrete. Inside visitors are greeted by a large mural of Gadhafi, commonly referred to in Libya as The Guide or The Leader of the Revolution, clasping his hands in a posture seen on billboards throughout the country.

It's an undoubtedly impressive structure, outclassing almost every similar facility I've seen in sub-Saharan Africa, and a monument to Gadhafi's vision of a united Africa. Sirte was where the African Union was launched in 1999, and everywhere are marks of Gadhafi's ambitions as a pan-African leader.

All along the marble corridors of the main lobby are placards featuring pro-African sayings apparently uttered by the Guide. They range from statesmanlike and defiant to deeply mundane and, some, slightly confusing:

"Africa has no alliance except with itself."

"Great Africa is the land of potential, wealth and unlimited generosity."

"Africa is a paradise with extensive shade and running water."

"Space realizes the prosperous present and future for Africans."

"If we allowed free movement of African citizens cross the borders all disputes in Africa well end."

"Africa is strong by its opulant resources; immense, potentials and promising economy.

In the last two, those aren't my typos. While the Leader clearly spared no expense in building the center -- there's seemingly enough marble here to fill a couple of NBA arenas -- there apparently wasn't much money left over for copy-editing.