Zimbabwe Quits Commonwealth

08/12/2003| IslamWeb

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says he is pulling his country out of the Commonwealth with immediate effect. He said he did not accept the decision by Commonwealth leaders at their summit in Abuja, to maintain Zimbabwe's suspension indefinitely. Commonwealth spokesman Joel Kibazo told the BBC that Mr Mugabe's decision to withdraw was "very disappointing". Zimbabwe's fate has dominated the summit and number of leaders are deeply unhappy with the outcome. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth last year after an election widely seen as flawed. **Reconciliation demand*** Mr Mugabe had earlier threatened to leave the 54-nation group if the country was not "treated as an equal". After the Commonwealth decision was taken, he received explanatory phone calls from Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson. In response, Mr Mugabe said the decision was unacceptable as Zimbabwe would settle for nothing short of the removal of the suspension. "Anything that you agreed to on Zimbabwe which is short of this position - no matter how sweetly worded - means Zimbabwe is still the subject of the Commonwealth," he said. "It is unacceptable. This is it. It [Zimbabwe] quits and quits it will be." Mr Kibazo, however, said the Commonwealth wanted Zimbabwe to return and would work to continue trying to engage with its government. Correspondents say Mr Mugabe's move in effect removes any leverage or pressure that Commonwealth leaders could have brought to bear on him. It also leaves the careful diplomacy of the Abuja summit in tatters. The summit which has been overshadowed by Zimbabwe from start to finish will come to an end amidst acrimony and division later on Monday, says the BBC's Barnaby Phillips in Abuja. The Commonwealth had hoped to move on during its final day and discuss other issues, but there will now be further talks about Zimbabwe. Commonwealth officials and leaders of countries like Britain, Australia and Canada will now have to work extremely hard to restore the organisation's sense of unity. **Right outcome*** Before Zimbabwe's decision, Mr Obasanjo was given the crucial role of deciding whether Zimbabwe had progressed enough for it to return to the Commonwealth. He said Zimbabwe could probably have returned within "months rather than ... years". Flying back to London from the summit, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Commonwealth decision had been "the right outcome" and that it was important for the Commonwealth to send "a strong signal" to Zimbabwe. Mr Mugabe had already indicated his response would be to pull out if the Commonwealth decided to maintain his country's suspension. In a speech at the end of his Zanu-PF party's conference in Masvingo on Saturday, Mr Mugabe had harsh words for the grouping. Commenting on Zimbabwe's suspension, and his lack of an invitation to the summit in Nigeria, he likened the Commonwealth to characters in George Orwell's novel, Animal Farm, where some members are more equal than others. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe raises his fist while speaking at the closing of the ruling ZANU (PF) annual conference in Masvingo, south of Harare, December 6, 2003. The executive head of the Commonwealth urged a fuming Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to 'take a breath' before quitting the group in retaliation for his suspension over democratic failings. Mugabe made his clearest threat yet to leave the 54-nation club of mainly former British colonies, saying in Zimbabwe: 'If we say we are doing this, we will do it. We will never retreat.' Photo by Howard Burditt/Reuters