[Sreekar]

UK opposition backs Brown on Mugabe summit boycott
(source:www.reuters.com)

British opposition parties backed on Friday Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision to boycott a European Union-Africa summit because Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is taking part and attacked the EU for inviting him.
"It is a shameful episode for Europe that President Mugabe is to be feted in Lisbon," the Conservatives' foreign affairs spokesman William Hague said -- a rare show of unity with Brown, who is under fire at home over a party funding scandal.
Brown is staying away from the Lisbon summit on Saturday and Sunday because of the presence of Mugabe, seen by many Africans as a hero of the independence struggle but accused by Western countries of multiple human rights violations.
Valerie Amos, a member of the upper House of Lords and a former cabinet minister, will represent Britain at the talks.

"Whilst I support the prime minister's decision not to attend, now that Mugabe is there, it is important that Baroness Amos ... lays his crimes bare before all those attending," Hague said in a statement.

Critics say Mugabe has presided over the collapse of Zimbabwe's once thriving economy, burdened by the world's highest inflation and chronic shortages of foreign currency, food and fuel.

Britain's second-biggest opposition party, the Liberal Democrats, said the decision to invite Mugabe "makes a mockery of the EU sanctions regime and will only add to his contempt for the international community".

Portugal had to waive an EU visa ban so the Zimbabwean leader and his delegation could attend.

The summit ought to be focusing on international preparations for a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, such as securing funds to repair the ravaged economy, the Liberal Democrats said. A spokesman said the party backed Brown's decision to stay away.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso defended inviting Mugabe on Thursday and vowed to make human rights the first point on the agenda.
Most EU leaders argue it is better to criticise Mugabe's record on human rights and economic governance to his face rather than boycott the summit.

Brown takes a strong interest in developing country issues. But British officials say that, if Brown had gone to Lisbon, it would have turned the summit into a "Zimbabwe circus".

-Thanks much,
Sreekar