SOUTH AFRICA:Southern African leaders are rallying behind Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in a row over whether he should be invited to an EU-Africa summit later this year.
British prime minister Gordon Brown said last week he would boycott the December meeting in Lisbon if Mr Mugabe was allowed to attend.
But his threat has gone down badly with Southern African governments who believe a planned boycott may undermine diplomatic efforts aimed at securing political reforms in Zimbabwe.
Zambia and Mozambique indicated they would stay away from the summit if Mr Mugabe was barred entry. And South African government officials have privately expressed concern about the timing of the British announcement - just days after the Zimbabwean opposition reached a landmark agreement with Mr Mugabe over the staging of parliamentary and presidential elections in March 2008.
Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesman for the South African department of foreign affairs, said it was "not responding specifically to any threats". But, he said, the foreign affairs minister had expressed the view on numerous occasions that "Africa is one, indivisible identity".
This echoes the stance of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a 14-nation body that includes South Africa, which has repeatedly resisted attempts to ostracize Mr Mugabe diplomatically. In a statement, SADC said attempting to isolate the Zimbabwean president would be "contrary to the letter and spirit" of mediation efforts launched earlier this year.
South African president Thabo Mbeki had been charged with heading up the mediation initiative, and he recently claimed progress was being made in bringing the government and the opposition in Zimbabwe to the negotiating table.
Zimbabwean information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said yesterday Mr Mugabe would travel to the Lisbon summit irrespective of potential protests. He claimed both SADC and the African Union supported the veteran leader's right to attend.
In a further show of defiance, Mr Mugabe held a friendly meeting yesterday with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the fringes of the UN general assembly in New York.
This came as US president George Bush called for stronger action against what he called Mr Mugabe's "tyrannical regime".