Mugabe absent from Commonwealth talks
Posted: Monday, September 23, 2002

Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe, has decided to boycott talks about his country's suspension from the Commonwealth, apparently because he objected to the tone of his invitation.
Mr Mugabe had, until the last minute, been expected to attend Monday's meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to review Zimbabwe's response to its exclusion from the organisation.

But in a phone call to the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr Mugabe said he objected to the invitation letter from Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"Mugabe said the invitation gave the impression that he was going to be court-martialled in Abuja," a Nigerian official told Reuters news agency.

The BBC's Dan Issacs in Abuja says the boycott is a major blow to the Commonwealth. More from BBC

Diplomatic gaffe

Herald Reporter

PRESIDENT Mugabe was not invited to today's Commonwealth troika meeting in Abuja to discuss the issue of Zimbabwe, it emerged yesterday.

Officials at the Commonwealth London headquarters confirmed yesterday that there was a "major diplomatic foul-up" in the manner the President was invited.

"President Mugabe is not attending the meeting because the bottom line is that he was not invited," the officials said.

The officials said the idea of having a meeting in Abuja was initially mooted when Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Mugabe met on the sidelines of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa early this month.

The two leaders held a one on one meeting on the morning of September 2, the day Cde Mugabe addressed the summit. MORE 

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