Prescott urged to ‘condemn’ Mugabe
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is under pressure to ‘condemn’ Robert Mugabe over human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram, who has been consistent in the past in calling for stern international action against the ‘tyrannical’ Zimbabwean president, made the demand ahead of the visit of Mr. Prescott and Mr. Mugabe to Thursday’s inauguration of Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja.
Mr. Ancram said: ‘The British people are sick of John Prescott’s junkets. It is difficult to see how this visit will help those who are suffering in southern Africa.
‘It would be completely inappropriate for the Deputy Prime Minister to appear alongside a tyrant such as Robert Mugabe at President Obasanjo’s inauguration.’
Mr. Ancram said meeting the disgraced leader would be a ‘tacit endorsement of Mugabe’s vile regime.’
