Brown 'wasting his time', Zimbabwe says of boycott threat

Brown 'wasting his time', Zimbabwe says of boycott threat

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ZIMBABWE on Thursday said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was "wasting his time" with his threats to boycott the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon if President Robert Mugabe attended.

"President Mugabe was invited and he is going to Lisbon as Zimbabwe's representative whether Gordon Brown attends or not," deputy information minister Bright Matonga told AFP.

"Brown is wasting his time."

The comments came at the back of a Thursday newspaper article in which Brown said Mugabe's attendance at the summit would divert attention from crucial issues.

The EU has imposed a travel ban on Mugabe, 83, and Brown said that "there is a reason for this -- the abuse of his own people. There is no freedom in Zimbabwe; no freedom of association; no freedom of the press."

Matonga said: "Brown has never been to Zimbabwe and he has never engaged Zimbabwe so he is not the best person to talk about our situation.

"He and his peers in the EU must remove the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe which are hurting our economy."

The travel ban has long hampered efforts to organise a second summit between the European Union and African states. The first was held in Cairo in 2000.

Portugal, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, has said that it has no intention of discriminating against Mugabe in relation to the December 8-9 summit in Lisbon.- AFP

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