UK/ZAMBIA: EU-Africa summit engulfed by controversy over Zimbabwe

A row is brewing between Europe and Africa how to deal with Zimbabwe ahead of a summit in Portugal in December. Zambia says it will boycott the summit if Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is not allowed to attend but Britain threatens to stay away if he does. And the EU says the row over Mugabe should not block the dialogue between the two continents. A row brewed between Europe and Africa on Thursday (September 20) on how to deal with Zimbabwe ahead of a summit in Portugal in December. Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa -- head of a 14-nation southern African group seeking to end Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis -- said he would boycott the EU-African summit in Lisbon if President Mugabe was not invited and warned other African leaders could join him. "I do not know how many of us will be prepared to go to Portugal without Mugabe. I will not go to Portugal if Mugabe is not allowed. That is not to say that I agree, I am happy with the situation in Zimbabwe, but I feel that there is need to continue dialogue with our colleagues in Zimbabwe," Mwanasawasa said in Lusaka. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed to snub the summit if Mugabe was invited, accusing him of "abuse of his own people". He also urged the EU to tighten sanctions against Zimbabwe's ruling elite. "And as I keep repeating, while there are no easy or simple answers to what is a complex set of problems, the way forward is the combination of United Nations, European Union, African Union, the pressure of all countries including the pressure of Britain, and the statement that we are making today that we are leading the United Nations, in the European Union, we will refuse to sit down with Mugabe, and at the same time, we will help with humanitarian aid for the Zimbabwean people as well as plan for the reconstruction with other countries of the country when democracy is restored, I think that is the way forward," Brown said. Brown's threatened boycott was played down by EU president Portugal and a source close to the presidency said Europe's ties with Africa could not be held hostage to the Zimbabwe issue. Portugal, which wants the meeting to forge deeper ties between the EU and Africa, suggested the event -- a high spot in its six-month presidency -- could go ahead without Brown. The European Commission said on Thursday (September 20) in Brussels that EU relations should not remain hostage to the Zimbabwe issue. European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel travelled to London to discuss Brown's threat not to attend the EU-Africa summit. Louis Michel's spokesman, Amadeu Altafaj, said one man should not be the reason to halt important talks with key international players. "One individual should not block the dialogue between two continents. Between 77, no more than that, between 80 countries, between 53 African countries and 27 members states. There are many urgent issues to discuss with our African neighbours and I think that all key international players have a high level dialogue with Africans and European Union should not miss this unique opportunity," he said. The EU presidency has said it had not yet decided who to invite at the summit. Critics say Mugabe has presided over the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy, now marked by the world's highest inflation rate of about 6,600 percent and unemployment around 80 percent. Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has ignored calls for democratic reforms and denies accusations of widespread human rights abuses. On Thursday, Mugabe won a parliamentary vote strengthening his iron hold on the country. In Harare, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) voted for a bill in parliament that effectively ensures Mugabe will be able to choose his successor if he stands down. The bill was supported by all 111 members present under a compromise between ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC which watered down Mugabe's powers to appoint legislators. But after a general strike call to protest against Mugabe's economic policies collapsed on Wednesday, (September 20) the parliamentary vote was another sign of the 83-year-old leader's dominance and opposition disarray. Zimbabwe is grappling with a deep economic recession that critics blame on Mugabe's policies, primarily his government's seizure of white-owned commercial farms to redistribute to landless blacks. Mugabe denies he has wrecked the economy and accuses the West of sabotaging it to punish him for land seizures he says were meant to redress colonial wrongs.

ITN Source | September 21, 2007

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