IslandMix

Herald Reporter

MOZAMBIQUE has vowed not to attend the forthcoming Europe-Africa Summit if President Mugabe is not invited, adding to the chorus of several other African states that have taken the same position.

Mr Eduardo Koloma, the Mozambican Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, told Radio Mozambique that his country's participation at the summit set for December in Portugal rests squarely on the unconditional attendance of Cde Mugabe.

Mr Koloma’s remarks come barely a week after former Mozambican president Mr Joaquim Chissano threw his weight behind President Mugabe’s attendance, saying he should be invited to the summit.

Earlier during the week, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who is also chairman of Sadc, said the regional bloc would boycott the summit unless President Mugabe was invited.

Mr Mwanawasa met Cde Mugabe at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where both leaders are attending the 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly, and officially communicated to him that Sadc would not take part in the scheduled summit if Zimbabwe was barred.

Yesterday, Mr Koloma was quoted as saying: "Mozambique subscribes to the principles and decisions of Sadc leaders and the position of the regional body was announced by the current chairperson."

"As current chairperson, he speaks for the region."

Mr Chissano, who was in the country for the commemoration of the life and work of former United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold at Africa University in Mutare, urged Africa not to be divided and manipulated by the West to the detriment of the continent.

Cde Mugabe, said Mr Chissano, should participate at the summit for the exchange of views in Lisbon because the summit was not a war zone but a forum for discussion.

The former Mozambican leader’s statement follows reports that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would not attend the summit if Cde Mugabe was invited.

The British premier has threatened to boycott the Lisbon summit, claiming that President Mugabe’s presence in Portugal would divert attention from important issues such as poverty, climate change and health, a posture that has been questioned by analysts who wonder why he has not boycotted the UN General Assembly.

Portugal, the host nation, which has repeatedly defended Zimbabwe’s participation, has said the potential rewards of close ties between Africa and Europe outweigh the antagonism between Britain and Zimbabwe.

The EU, which is fast losing control on the continent against the backdrop of growing Sino-African ties which have seen China’s influence soaring in the recent years, is keen to regain its grip on Africa.