Morocco has been readmitted into the African Union (AU) on Monday while African Union leaders chose Chad's candidate to chair the 54-nation body.

The African leaders in Addis Ababa for the 28th AU summit voted in favor of Morocco's bid to rejoin the pan-African union.

The North African country submitted its bid to rejoin the African Union in July 2016 and has been lobbying for its reinstatement since.

"Morocco has been readmitted after it has managed to muster 46 member countries to support its bid," an African Union diplomat who spoke, asking anonymity, said.

The North African kingdom quit the AU's predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, three decades ago amid a dispute over the body's recognition of Western Sahara, most of which has been controlled by Morocco since 1976.Chad's foreign minister secures top post at African Union

Meanwhile, Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat beat Kenya's top diplomat Amina Mohamed to secure the post as head of the commission of the AU, which is headquartered in the Ethiopian capital.A Chadian official told a group of reporters that his nation's candidate had secured 39 votes in the final round. Faki, born in 1960, has served as foreign minister since 2008. His previous posts also included a stint as prime minister.In a race usually resolved in behind-the-scenes talks before a summit vote, three of the AU's four major regions vied for the post - the south, the east and the largely Francophone west - with some regions pushing more than one candidate.