Abuja, Dec 08: Australia today defended the
Commonwealth's decision to extend the suspension of Zimbabwe,
even though the body's leaders made the choice knowing
President Robert Mugabe would pull his country out altogether.
"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," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters here.
Mugabe announced his country's withdrawal late
yesterday after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
in Abuja chose to extend Zimbabwe's suspension indefinitely
and set up a committee to review its progress to democracy.
Howard said there was no reason why Zimbabwe, which
was suspended in March 2002 after Mugabe was re-elected in a
ballot marred by violence and vote-rigging, could not rejoin
the Commonwealth in the future.
"The people are suffering greatly and their welfare
and what is needed to improve their welfare should be our
dominant concern," he said.
Australia, one of six countries named to a panel set
up to monitor Zimbabwe alongside Commonwealth Chairman
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, is one of the most
outspoken in its criticism of Zimbabwe.
Bureau Report
