Brown threatens to boycott EU summit over Mugabe

LONDON – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown threatened yesterday to boycott a summit of European Union and African leaders later this year if Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attended.

But the government in Harare said Brown was ‘wasting his time’ in warning he would stay away from the talks in Lisbon in December, insisting the 83-year-old president had been invited and was going. Meanwhile, Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa also announced yesterday he would boycott the EU-Africa summit if Mugabe was not invited and said other African leaders could do so as well.”I will not go to Portugal if Mugabe is not allowed.I don’t know how many of us (African leaders) will be prepared to go to Portugal without Mugabe,” Mwanawasa told journalists in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.The British leader also accused Mugabe of leaving his people in an ‘appalling and tragic situation’.The British leader, whose comments were applauded by Zimbabwean activists and rights groups, said Mugabe’s presence in the Portuguese capital would flout an EU travel ban on him and his entourage.”President Mugabe is the only African leader to face an EU travel ban.There is a reason for this – the abuse of his own people,” he wrote in a strongly-worded article in The Independent newspaper.”There is no freedom in Zimbabwe; no freedom of association; no freedom of the press.And there is widespread torture and mass intimidation of the political opposition.”As a result, Mugabe’s presence would ‘undermine’ the summit and divert attention from the issues in hand, Brown said, adding: “In those circumstances, my attendance would not be appropriate.”Mwanawasa, the head of a 14-nation southern African grouping that is trying to end a political and economic crisis that has prompted millions of Zimbabweans to flee the once prosperous former British colony, said Brown’s statement was ‘unfortunate’.Brown’s first policy statement on Zimbabwe goes further than his predecessor Tony Blair, who held off personally criticising Mugabe in favour of focusing on the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans and an ‘African solution’ to the problem.In Lisbon, a spokesman for the EU’s current Portuguese presidency avoided direct comment on the threat, saying: “We are working to make this summit a success.The question of participants will be studied in due course.”Nampa-AFPMeanwhile, Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa also announced yesterday he would boycott the EU-Africa summit if Mugabe was not invited and said other African leaders could do so as well.”I will not go to Portugal if Mugabe is not allowed.I don’t know how many of us (African leaders) will be prepared to go to Portugal without Mugabe,” Mwanawasa told journalists in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.The British leader also accused Mugabe of leaving his people in an ‘appalling and tragic situation’.The British leader, whose comments were applauded by Zimbabwean activists and rights groups, said Mugabe’s presence in the Portuguese capital would flout an EU travel ban on him and his entourage.”President Mugabe is the only African leader to face an EU travel ban.There is a reason for this – the abuse of his own people,” he wrote in a strongly-worded article in The Independent newspaper.”There is no freedom in Zimbabwe; no freedom of association; no freedom of the press.And there is widespread torture and mass intimidation of the political opposition.”As a result, Mugabe’s presence would ‘undermine’ the summit and divert attention from the issues in hand, Brown said, adding: “In those circumstances, my attendance would not be appropriate.”Mwanawasa, the head of a 14-nation southern African grouping that is trying to end a political and economic crisis that has prompted millions of Zimbabweans to flee the once prosperous former British colony, said Brown’s statement was ‘unfortunate’.Brown’s first policy statement on Zimbabwe goes further than his predecessor Tony Blair, who held off personally criticising Mugabe in favour of focusing on the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans and an ‘African solution’ to the problem.In Lisbon, a spokesman for the EU’s current Portuguese presidency avoided direct comment on the threat, saying: “We are working to make this summit a success.The question of participants will be studied in due course.”Nampa-AFP