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Gee, ya' think, tony?

All he can do is protest. The African Commonwealth countries are backing Mugabe in the face of this blatant stolen election.

Divided we stand, united we fail: leaders' rift is a gift to Mugabe -By Ed O'Loughlin, Herald Correspondent in Zimbabwe [Full Text] While the Commonwealth is split over what to do about Zimbabwe, it appears Zimbabwe is starkly divided over the Commonwealth.

For President Robert Mugabe's government the rift between CHOGM's predominantly black and predominantly white member states on the subject of his country is a propaganda victory.

As this weekend's presidential election draws nearer, Mr Mugabe's government is stepping up efforts to portray itself as the innocent victim of a racist neo-colonial plot to reconquer Zimbabwe's 13 million blacks and put the 70,000 white "settlers" back in charge.

Australia has come in for its share of the attack. An official election pullout in Zimbabwe's state newspapers last weekend included a cartoon of a white man, labelled Australia, standing on the back of a naked black man, labelled Aborigine.

Mr Mugabe's critics have been scathing of the Commonwealth's decision to defer action and of the views of its African leaders.

The Catholic Archbishop of Matabeleland, Dr Pius Ncube, said: "The African [Commonwealth] countries ... have gone ethnic. Just because Mugabe is a fellow African they'll support him.

The logic is emotional, not rational." [End]