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Commonwealth summit ends in crisis as Mugabe steals the show
Abuja, Dec 08: The Commonwealth summit limped to a close today on a sour note of crisis and recrimination after Zimbabwe`s President Robert Mugabe angrily pulled his troubled country out of the world body.
Abuja, Dec 08: The Commonwealth summit limped to a close today on a sour note of crisis and recrimination after Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe angrily pulled his troubled country out of the world body.
Mugabe's decision made a mockery of a three-day wrangle at the Nigeria meeting over whether to lift Zimbabwe's suspension, a row threatening to split the club of former British colonies on quasi-racial lines.
Despite delegates pleading that the issue not dominate the summit agenda, the row dragged on until nightfall yesterday, when they agreed on a plan to extend the suspension indefinitely, subject to review by a six-nation panel.
Zimbabwe's response was contemptuous, and deeply damaging to the credibility of the 54-nation body, which saw its last day of talks in Abuja upstaged by Mugabe's showmanship.
Commonwealth secretary general Don McKinnon, whose strong stance on ZIMBABWE annoyed many African members, admitted the four-day summit had been a washout.
"It's not a happy thing for us at all," he told reporters.
“It has proved ... That we've stuck to our principles and gone to significant extent to remain engaged," he said, but added, “We've not been successful and we would obviously like to be engaged so we see it as a bit of a failure."
Zimbabwe's supporters, led by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, had opposed Zimbabwe's continuing suspension, arguing that Mugabe should be encouraged to reform by being brought into the fold.
But the "White Commonwealth" of Britain, Australia and New Zealand favoured a tough line, and won the support of a largely silent majority of Caribbean, Asian and Pacific states, along with some Africans.
Zimbabwe was suspended in March last year after a presidential election which saw the 79-year-old Mugabe voted back into office amid widespread vote-rigging, violence and political repression.
The impoverished largely rural southern African state is only the second country to withdraw from the Commonwealth after Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid in South Africa, quit because of criticism of his regime.
Australia said Commonwealth leaders took the suspension decision in the full knowledge that Zimbabwe's autocratic leader was planning his coup de theatre.
"I think it is always dreadful when a country decides to go but the decision the commonwealth took yesterday was the only decision, the only decision, consistent with Commonwealth standards," Prime Minister John Howard said.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark also placed the blame at Mugabe's door, saying, "Zimbabwe's government seems determined to thumb its nose at international opinion.
"The Zimbabwe government's decision to withdraw is not a disaster for the Commonwealth. It is an indictment of Zimbabwe's government that it has chosen this path," she said. Bureau Report
Despite delegates pleading that the issue not dominate the summit agenda, the row dragged on until nightfall yesterday, when they agreed on a plan to extend the suspension indefinitely, subject to review by a six-nation panel.
Zimbabwe's response was contemptuous, and deeply damaging to the credibility of the 54-nation body, which saw its last day of talks in Abuja upstaged by Mugabe's showmanship.
Commonwealth secretary general Don McKinnon, whose strong stance on ZIMBABWE annoyed many African members, admitted the four-day summit had been a washout.
"It's not a happy thing for us at all," he told reporters.
“It has proved ... That we've stuck to our principles and gone to significant extent to remain engaged," he said, but added, “We've not been successful and we would obviously like to be engaged so we see it as a bit of a failure."
Zimbabwe's supporters, led by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, had opposed Zimbabwe's continuing suspension, arguing that Mugabe should be encouraged to reform by being brought into the fold.
But the "White Commonwealth" of Britain, Australia and New Zealand favoured a tough line, and won the support of a largely silent majority of Caribbean, Asian and Pacific states, along with some Africans.
Zimbabwe was suspended in March last year after a presidential election which saw the 79-year-old Mugabe voted back into office amid widespread vote-rigging, violence and political repression.
The impoverished largely rural southern African state is only the second country to withdraw from the Commonwealth after Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid in South Africa, quit because of criticism of his regime.
Australia said Commonwealth leaders took the suspension decision in the full knowledge that Zimbabwe's autocratic leader was planning his coup de theatre.
"I think it is always dreadful when a country decides to go but the decision the commonwealth took yesterday was the only decision, the only decision, consistent with Commonwealth standards," Prime Minister John Howard said.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark also placed the blame at Mugabe's door, saying, "Zimbabwe's government seems determined to thumb its nose at international opinion.
"The Zimbabwe government's decision to withdraw is not a disaster for the Commonwealth. It is an indictment of Zimbabwe's government that it has chosen this path," she said. Bureau Report