President Robert Mugabe has
rallied the backing of fellow African leaders in his bid to force an invitation
to the EU-African Union summit set for Brussels in April this year. Previous
EU-AU summits have been rocked by controversy over the Zimbabwean leader who is
banned from travelling to Europe under sanctions imposed to punish alleged
human rights abuses and suspected electoral fraud.
The 2007 meeting in Portugal had
to be deferred as Britain opposed Mugabe's invitation while African leaders
said they would not attend if he wasn't welcome. In the end Mugabe travelled to
Lisbon while Gordon Brown, then British premier, boycotted the summit.
African leaders agreed at an AU
summit in Ethiopia last week that they would not travel to Brussels in April if
the Zimbabwean strong-man was not invited. "The Africa Union has resolved
to move as a united front on issues of governance and international
policy," said Zambia foreign minister Wylbur Simuusa.
"We must now speak with one
voice and make sure we act in the interest of Africa. That is why for the
EU-Africa summit coming up, where Zimbabwe has been singled out with
restrictions for President Robert Mugabe from attending, the position that the
AU has taken is that if Zimbabwe won't go, then Africa will not go and that has
been agreed upon. Zimbabwean foreign affairs minister, Simbarashe Mumbengewi,
confirmed the development as Mugabe returned from Ethiopia on Saturday.
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201402020189.html
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