Blair braced for French row over possible Mugabe visit
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is set for a standoff with France over plans to ask Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to attend a summit of African leaders in Paris next month, officials said Wednesday.
French diplomats in London say no decision has yet been made to invite Mugabe who has been under a European Union-imposed travel ban, although it is under consideration. A presidential palace spokesman in Paris said officials able to comment on the matter were not available.
The travel bans imposed on the much-criticized African leader and his cohorts last year are to expire in the middle of next month and are up for discussion at a meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday.
An invitation would sit badly with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has heavily criticized the Mugabe regime for his policy of seizing white-owned farms to distribute to landless blacks -- a program which critics say has exacerbated food shortages now faced by more than half the country's 14 million people.
"We've made it clear that we support the sanctions that are in place against Zimbabwe," Blair told parliament. "The meeting, I understand, is to take place on Monday and no agreement has been reached."
Britain's International Development Secretary Clare Short was characteristically more blunt.
"It would be disgraceful if President Chirac invites Mugabe to Paris and it is rumored he intends to do so," she said in parliament.
The problem, UK officials said, is that the EU travel ban may not cover the period when Mugabe may be in Paris unless all 15 foreign ministers agree Monday to extend it.
"It is a live issue," Blair's official spokesman said. "But we have had no formal proposal from the French government yet."
Blair has already asked the England cricket team not to play in Zimbabwe during next month's World Cup, but the England team has resisted his request and says it plans to play.
His Conservative Party opponents, already convinced Blair has soft-pedaled over Mugabe, have launched into the fray.
"It is time for this government to cast off its post-colonial guilt syndrome and stand up for the people of Zimbabwe," the party's foreign affairs spokesman Michael Annam told reporters.
01/22/03 14:14 ET
