Posted on 04/08/2005 12:45:04 PM PDT by Clive
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe, who is in Rome for the Pope's funeral, is desperately trying to secure meetings with European leaders to try and push for an end to his regime's isolation.
But there was no indication by last night that any of the world leaders attending would agree to meet Mugabe on the sidelines of Pope John Paul II's funeral at the Vatican.
Mugabe's officials where trying to organise meetings with former leaders of mainly Eastern European countries who have since joined the European Union in a desperate bid to try and lobby them against the continued sanctions on him and his officials.
The EU operates by consensus and Zimbabwe's foreign ministry sources said Mugabe hoped to break that consensus by getting other European Union countries not to agree to the continued sanctions against his government.
"He hoped to woo a few EU countries that have recently joined the organisation (EU) by explaining to them that all the problems in Zimbabwe are all because of Britain's fault in not releasing money for land reform," said one source.
"He wants to tell them that Blair has carried the same 'lying habits' that created the chaos in Iraq to Zimbabwe."
Some of these former communist eastern European countries admitted into the EU were close supporters of Mugabe during the liberation struggle and provided arms and ammunition to ZANU PF guerillas.
Mugabe has repeatedly accused Blair of being solely responsible for EU sanctions on Zimbabwe. He has accused the British Prime Minister of surreptitiously lobbying Zimbabwe's "friends" like Italy and France to impose sanctions.
But his campaign to win these "friends" might falter as it seemed likely that very few or none of the EU leaders would be willing to meet him. Shaking Mugabe's hand by an EU leader has previously attracted widespread disapproval in the European media.
No single appointment had been confirmed at the time of going to Press yesterday though officials refused to disclose the exact countries they had approached.
Still Mugabe would share the podium with his arch critics - Blair and American President George Bush, who are all attending the funeral.
More than 150 presidents, prime ministers, queens, kings and other influential people are expected at the funeral.
Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi refused to meet Mugabe during his last visit to Rome more than two years ago to attend a United Nations meeting. Mugabe had asked for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN's World Food Programme conference, which he was allowed to attend because the sanctions are waived for UN meetings.
The EU imposed travel sanctions on Mugabe, his wife and top cronies over his human rights abuses and violent seizure of white owned farmland for redistribution to landless blacks. - ZimOnline
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He's got a better shot in Western Europe than Eastern Europe to find appeasers.
Now you'll give back the property you took from white citizens of Zimbabwe simply because they were white, right?
Also, you could move towards a representative democracy. Oh, and how about making sure Zimbabweans can eat without joining the military?
It's your move, Bob.
Hey, Clive, make sure you read #5. Most days Charles should stay in bed, even if it is with the horse-faced Camilla.
Kill the "White devils" and take their land!
Then later try to get a handout.
BTW: Snobby Prince Charle is certainly from the shallow end of the gene pool.
Sorta reminiscent of Charlie's great uncle, the Duke of York, (at one time King Edward VIII) hob-nobing with the nazis just before WWII, isn't it?
I don't think Prince Charles is bright enough to know whose hand he's shaking. He doesn't even know enough to marry within his own species.
Inbreeding.
It is a part of the modern Mass for everyone to greet those nearby by shaking hands and saying "peace be with your".
In such circumstances it would be inappropriate to refuse to shake any hand that is offered.
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