'Obscene': Mugabe's arrival at food summit provokes outrage
So Mugabe flies into Rome, which he is only allowed to do because the EU travel ban excludes any United Nations events, to attend a food summit.
The man whose policies have resulted in the starving of his people, this unelected little tyrant, has the sheer gall to sit there whilst other nations discuss food policies. It's beyond bizarre.
I know that Britain is always loathe to directly interfere in Zimbabwe's affairs lest Mugabe be able to play the old colonialism card that he has been touting for decades now, but I do think the international communities reaction to this tinpot dictator has been utterly disgraceful."Robert Mugabe going to Rome for the food summit is like Pol Pot going to a human rights convention," said Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office minister for Africa, referring to the mastermind of the Cambodian genocide.
The British representative to the meeting, Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, said Mr Mugabe's appearance was "obscene".
"This meeting is supposed to be about increasing the supply of food," Mr Alexander told BBC Radio, "while his policies have exactly the reverse effect in Zimbabwe." His presence in Rome was "an affront to all Zimbabweans who are suffering hunger, destitution and poverty as a direct result of his rule". That view was echoed by representatives from the United States, Australia and the Netherlands.
We have sat silently by while he brutalises any opposition to him within his own country, and now he gives us the finger by attending an international convention on food, whilst his own people face the largest inflation rate in the world and empty shelves in the shops.
Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, as Mugabe and his wife take in the grandeur of Rome:
Death squads haunt the land: as reported on The Independent's front page yesterday, the tortured and broken body of one of Mr Mugabe's most courageous opponents, Tonderai Ndira, was found weeks after he had been dragged from his home in his underwear. In recent months, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled abroad to escape the hunger, violence and desperate poverty of their homeland, where inflation is running at 165,000 per cent.There is understandable outrage that Mugabe should be attending such an event, but we have brought it upon ourselves. Our reaction to this man has simply been spineless. We continue to look to Mbeki of South Africa to do something when it is obvious to one and all that Mbeki is never going to do bugger all about this.
Douglas Alexander, the British International Development Secretary, is facing calls that he should boycott the conference.
Far more important than boycotting any meetings would be a UN decision to force election monitors into Zimbabwe ahead of the second election.Some Labour MPs tabled a Commons protest motion calling for Mr Alexander to stay away and criticised ministers for double standards on Zimbabwe. Harry Cohen said: "It's unbelievable that Douglas Alexander should turn up at the same conference as Robert Mugabe after the boycott by Gordon Brown. There is a total lack of consistency and double standards by the Government." He warned: "Mugabe is facing elections and is going to play this for all it is worth ... Douglas Alexander is playing into his hands. And it will do no favours for the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai."
The calls for a boycott were supported by Ian Gibson, the former Labour chairman of the Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology, who said it was "shocking" that Mr Mugabe should be attending a conference on food shortages when he had wrecked the food economy of his own country.
"I don't think Mugabe will listen to a word a British minister says," said Mr Gibson. "Douglas Alexander should take his lead from Gordon Brown and stay away." But Mr Brown's official spokesman insisted last night that the minister would attend the UN meeting as planned.
The people of Zimbabwe have spoken, we should be taking steps to make sure that they are heard.
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