Commonwealth extends Zimbabwe suspension

Commonwealth leaders agreed yesterday to extend sanctions against Zimbabwe for violating the group's democratic values, said a spokesman for the 54-nation club of mainly former British colonies.

Asked if the leaders had agreed to continue Harare's suspension from the Commonwealth, the spokesman said: "Yes".

Earlier a Zambian source told Reuters the heads of state had agreed to extend the suspension and to appoint a seven-nation committee headed by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to monitor developments in Zimbabwe and report back.

"The key issues are political dialogue between (ruling party) Zanu-PF and the opposition and human rights," the Zambian source said.

The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe early last year on the grounds that President Robert Mugabe had rigged his re-election and persecuted his opponents.

The Zambian source said the committee would not have to wait until the next summit in two years to report any progress.

"They do not have to wait until the next summit to report," the source said. "The chairman in consultation with the six wise men can recommend Zimbabwe's return before that."

In Harare, ZANU-PF party said it had already decided it wanted to leave the Commonwealth. A final decision would be taken by a cabinet vote.

"We have already made a decision that we were leaving the Commonwealth," ZANU-PF external affairs secretary Didymus Mutasa told Reuters.

A defiant Mugabe, too, has threatened to leave the group, accusing it of being hijacked by "racist" Westerners led by Britain.

The 79-year-old Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, has sympathy from a small but powerful group of southern African nations which have lobbied for his country's readmission at the Abuja summit.

Mugabe accused Britain and other "Anglo-Saxon" countries of punishing him for land reforms that have given white-owned farms to landless blacks. His argument finds resonance with many other African leaders whose political lives started in the fight against British imperialism.

Many Africans suspect British demands for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe are a cover for protecting white farmers and their land.

Membership of the Commonwealth gives many countries a valuable international stage, and some trade and aid benefits. Exclusion carries the stigma of pariah status in the international community.

The racially charged row has split the Commonwealth as nothing has since apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s, dominating the summit to the frustration of many delegates eager to discuss topics such as fair trade, Aids and terrorism.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was wrong to "muddle" that issue with questions of Zimbabwean democracy and rights violations.

"The vast majority of countries - black or white or Asian - are in favour of continuing the suspension because we can see that Zimbabwe is so clearly in breach of all the principles the Commonwealth stands for," he told Sky TV.

In Zimbabwe, Mugabe disparaged the Commonwealth as "a mere club" and likened it to George Orwell's classic political satire "'Animal Farm', where some members are more equal than others".