Maravi

(ZIMBABWE GUARDIAN) France under pressure over Mugabe invitation

France under pressure over Mugabe invitation
By: TH-tzg
Posted: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 1:00 am

PARIS has found itself in a quandary over its hosting of the France-Africa Summit because it does not want to offend fellow EU members by inviting President Mugabe. Britain, Holland and Germany are reportedly pressuring France not to invite President Mugabe.

Elysee Palace — the seat of the French government — has already succumbed to pressure not to invite Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir. The summit had to be moved from Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak said he would not host it if his Sudanese counterpart was not present.

The West has been trying to isolate President al-Bashir over an International Criminal Court indictment that many feel is contrived and baseless at international law.

Yesterday, Charge d’Affaires at the French Embassy in Harare Mr Dietmar Peprausch said he could not yet comment on President Mugabe’s participation at the summit.

"It is unfortunately too soon to answer to these questions. The invitations for the summit have not yet been sent out."

However, Reuters has reported that invitations have started being sent out with Sudan already receiving such a letter for the May 31 to June 1 meeting in Nice.

President Nicolas Sarkozy recently invited President al-Bashir to send a representative in his stead.

Mr Petrausch responded: "To be more exact, it is not an invitation that President Sarkozy sent to President al-Bashir, but a mere letter to ask him to designate a representative.

"Once we have the name of this representative, we will formally invite him.

"As you know, President al-Bashir is a particular case as he is indicted before the ICC, which is not the case with President Mugabe.

"There are still many other countries for which we did not send the invitations."

Yesterday, diplomatic sources said: "France is still considering what position to take on Zimbabwe.
"They want to go by the African Union position as much as possible and this means inviting President Mugabe.

"That is why they have decided not to invite Niger and Madagascar because the AU does not recognise the governments in those countries.

"But the AU recognises President Mugabe as Head of State and Government and France has found its ego, which wants a large turnout, running contrary to its obligations as an EU member.

"They have been targeting certain countries to find a way of assuaging them in the event that Zimbabwe is not invited.

"They have offered President (Hifikepunye) Pohamba and President (Jacob) Zuma State visits in exchange for their silence on the matter."

The sources said the Namibian and South African leaders had declined to be bribed by something as "cheap" as a State visit.

Another diplomatic source said: "On the last France-Africa Summit, the French position was determined by the majority EU position.

"This time around the rules, so to speak, have changed and they are proceeding by way of consensus.

"So this means if Britain and company can present a compelling case then Zimbabwe will not be invited and vice versa if they can’t.

"But if the case against Zimbabwe was weak for the EU-Africa Summit in Portugal, it is even weaker now.

"France essentially wants to make an omelette without breaking any eggs by having a great turnout while disrespecting AU positions."

In 2007, Zimbabwe rejected a conditional invite to the France-Africa Summit in Cannes.

The French at that time sent former Mozambique president Joachim Chissano with an invitation for President Mugabe.

They wanted him to persuade President Mugabe to decline the invite and instead delegate a representative.

Zimbabwe attended France-Africa summits in 2003 and 2005 as a courtesy.

In 2003, France invited President Mugabe despite Britain’s insistence not to.

In 2007, Portugal invited President Mugabe to the EU-Africa Summit, prompting British Premier Gordon Brown to boycott that meeting, a stance that was dismissed as a damp squib.

Labels: FRANCE, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 3:22 PM