African presidents started arriving in the Ugandan capital late on Friday ahead of an African Union summit to be held in the capital from Saturday to Tuesday.

The Presidents of Namibia, Zambia, the Congo Republic, Algeria and Nigeria landed at Uganda's Entebbe international airport separately on Friday afternoon.

Security was tight as the meeting comes just a few days after blasts in the capital killed more than 70 people watching the World Cup finals.

The current Somali crisis and the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Somalia will top the African Union summit being hosted by Uganda, two weeks after Somali rebels launched their first attack on foreign soil with twin bomb attacks in Kampala.

The Kampala attacks, which Uganda says were carried out by suicide bombers, have thrust Somalia back onto the international agenda and diplomats say that African leaders now feel under pressure to take action at the summit.