Brown loses fight to bar Mugabe from summit

[BAK]

Brown loses fight to bar Mugabe from summit

Ian Traynor in Brussels
Wednesday October 3, 2007
The Guardian

Gordon Brown has lost his campaign to prevent President Robert Mugabe from attending a Europe-Africa summit in Portugal in December despite the EU travel ban on the Zimbabwean strongman.
The prime minister is also facing stiff resistance to his demand that the EU appoint a special envoy to deal with the Zimbabwe crisis, according to sources in Brussels. "It's the working assumption that Mugabe will be coming if invited by the Portuguese as expected," said a European Commission official familiar with the preparations for the first Europe-Africa summit in seven years.

While a Portuguese official said no invitation had yet been issued to Mr Mugabe for the summit on December 8, he also cautioned against concluding that the Zimbabwean leader would not be coming to Europe.
The shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, yesterday joined Mr Brown's effort to bar Mr Mugabe despite all the signs of failure. "We have asked our government to ensure Mugabe is not invited to the African summit with the EU and support the stand they have taken," he told the Tory party conference in Blackpool.

But EU and Portuguese officials showed exasperation with the British position, shrugging off the British boycott threat.

Mr Brown said last month he would boycott the summit if Mr Mugabe came to Lisbon. It is not clear whether Britain will stay away altogether or be represented at a lower level at a summit bringing together 53 African and 26 European heads of state or government. British officials said no decision had yet been taken.

Mr Mugabe and 130 of his regime acolytes are barred from travelling to Europe, but African leaders are insisting that Zimbabwe be treated the same as everyone else for the summit. Portugal and other EU countries are unwilling to jeopardise the summit by blocking Mr Mugabe, not least because they are alarmed that they are losing out to China in the contest for African trade and resources.

While Mr Brown is certain to be absent, Britain is pushing to make sure that Mr Mugabe is confronted in Lisbon with vigorous criticism of the appalling human rights situation in Zimbabwe. "If Zimbabwe sends anyone on the visa ban list, the quid pro quo is that there has to be a discussion on human rights and that could focus on Zimbabwe," a British official added. "The condition for lifting the ban is that human rights is on the agenda."

While a consensus is emerging on a broad discussion of "human rights and good governance" in Africa, there is also resistance to singling out Zimbabwe lest that trigger a Mugabe walkout in Lisbon and a possible summit collapse.

Following Mr Brown's boycott declaration last month, Britain last week asked EU member states to appoint a senior envoy to deal with Zimbabwe. The proposal is to be discussed by EU foreign ministers in a fortnight, but has received a lukewarm response so far.

EU diplomats hope that Mr Mugabe will come under "peer pressure" from fellow African leaders. They say that hectoring from ex-colonial powers is more likely to trigger a backlash and generate African support for Mr Mugabe.

 

[Bongolander]

Did he lose this fight or he just decided to ignore it? What does his country lose for Bob to attend it.

 

[G.MWAKASEGE]

Ni mapema mno ameanza kuharibu

 

[Dua]

Nafikiri hapa Afrika ndio tunakosea, G Brown amesema wazi kwamba hawezi kuhudhuria mkutano huo kuondoa attention ambayo itakuwepo baina ya UK na Zimbabwe na issues ambazo ni za muhimu kujadiliwa zitapoteza mwelekeo. Sifikirii kama hili ni baya, kibaya ni kupotosha ukweli ambao G Brown alisema.

UK wako katika prime condition na hawawezi kupoteza chochote kwa kutohudhuria mkutano huu lakini Afrika ndio tutakuwa tumepoteza nafasi ya kutatua matatizo ambayo yanaletwa na viongozi kama R. Mugabe. Je ni pesa kiasi gani ya walipa kodi wa Zimbabwe anayopoteza i.e. alipokuwa NY kwenye Baraza la Umoja wa Mataifa wakati raia wake hawawezi hata kupata mlo moja kwa siku - AIBU HII.

 

[Masanja]

Dua unafikiri hilo watu wanaliona? na my guess is, huu mkutano ni "business as usual" watu watakutana watachoma pesa za walipa kodi, watatoa declarations, communique nk na business stops there. Nothing more. Kwa hiyo mi naona Brown is right akienda atampa chati sana Bob kuanza kulipuka kama kawaida yake. Brown hana la kupoteza na sana sana ni pesa za walipa kodi wa UK zitakazo ungua.

By the way hata hiyo EU bado inategemea fungu la UK kutimiza hizi developmental plans. na tusisahau hawa wazungu wanalindana, ila sasa sisi tunaongelea ushabiki tuu bila kuangalia substance..what do we stand to gain from these meetings. Tumeona mikutano mingapi? hata juzi dunia nzima ilikuwa New York, what have they achieved? zaidi ya kutoa podium kwa akina "Kalumanzira" kulalamikia global inequality tuu....Nothing, infact wananchi Burma walikuwa wanapigwa mtaani na dunia nzima imekusanyika New York, the best they could afford ni kuiomba Burma "ijizuie kutumia nguvu kupita kiasi"Ama kweli sikio la kufa halisikii dawa kabisa!

 

[YNIM]

Dua unafikiri hilo watu wanaliona? na my guess is, huu mkutano ni "business as usual" watu watakutana watachoma pesa za walipa kodi, watatoa declarations, communique nk na business stops there. Nothing more. Kwa hiyo mi naona Brown is right akienda atampa chati sana Bob kuanza kulipuka kama kawaida yake. Brown hana la kupoteza na sana sana ni pesa za walipa kodi wa UK zitakazo ungua.

By the way hata hiyo EU bado inategemea fungu la UK kutimiza hizi developmental plans. na tusisahau hawa wazungu wanalindana, ila sasa sisi tunaongelea ushabiki tuu bila kuangalia substance..what do we stand to gain from these meetings. Tumeona mikutano mingapi? hata juzi dunia nzima ilikuwa New York, what have they achieved? zaidi ya kutoa podium kwa akina "Kalumanzira" kulalamikia global inequality tuu....Nothing, infact wananchi Burma walikuwa wanapigwa mtaani na dunia nzima imekusanyika New York, the best they could afford ni kuiomba Burma "ijizuie kutumia nguvu kupita kiasi"Ama kweli sikio la kufa halisikii dawa kabisa!

Masanja,
ni kweli tupu.....monks wanajisikia kuwa betrayed,walalahoi wa zimbabwe vilevile. Africa ilitusonge inabidi tuache kuoneana aibu!!! .Mugabe inabidi awe completely isolated na international community,the guy is a monster maybe worse "arguably"than Saddam.

 

[Bujibuji Simba Nyamaume]

Mugabe for life