Zimbabwe set to dominate Commonwealth summit
The Prime Minister has called for the Commonwealth to continue sanctions against the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, as leaders from the 54 nations met in Nigeria for their biennial summit.
A rift has developed in the group, with politicians such as Tony Blair backing the continued suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, and other nations – particularly those in southern Africa – claiming that the country should be immediately reinstated.
A more moderate line has been taken by Canadian officials, who have suggested that the suspension remains in place, but that measures are taken to ensure that Zimbabwe is back in the Commonwealth before the next summit.
Zimbabwe was suspended after Robert Mugabe was accused of rigging the presidential elections in March last year. His Zanu PF party has been accused of gross abuses of human rights, and is also held responsible by many critics for the worsening food shortages in the region.
One of the president’s most controversial policies has been the redistribution of land owned by white farmers, to the black population.
That has led to accusations of racism and colonial interference from the UK and its allies New Zealand and Australia – recently dubbed the ‘unholy alliance’ by Mugabe.
But Mr. Blair dismissed such accusations today, claiming that black people in Zimbabwe were the main victims of President Mugabe’s regime. He added that a continued suspension would send ‘the right signal of strong disapproval for what is happening in Zimbabwe at the present time’.
The summit, which is due to end on Monday, will be opened tomorrow by the Queen in her capacity as head of the Commonwealth. At the start of her four-day state visit to Nigeria today, Her Majesty praised President Olusegun Obasanjo for achieving democracy in the country, which she claimed could hold the key to political reforms across the rest of the continent.
