Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe will not be invited to attend this year’s Commonwealth summit in Nigeria, a spokesperson for Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday.
The decision followed pressure from Australia.
Quoting Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon and the Nigerian government, the spokesperson said Mugabe would not be invited to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, to be held in the Nigerian capital Abuja in December.
Some African countries, led by South African President Thabo Mbeki, have been urging the Commonwealth to relax its sanctions on Zimbabwe.
”I can confirm that the Commonwealth secretary general and the Nigerian government have confirmed that President Mugabe will not be invited to the meeting in Nigeria in December. The prime minister had opposed inviting Mugabe so this decision is welcome,” the spokesperson said.
”We consider that in the absence of any progress in addressing the concerns which led to its suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe’s suspension should stand.”
Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth last year after Mugabe was reelected in its presidential elections. International observers concluded that the voting had been rigged, in line with statements by opposition parties.
Mugabe’s increasingly hardline policies have sparked international outrage and concern over deteriorating human rights and economic conditions. Mugabe has been in power in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. — Sapa-AFP