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Mugabe made Zimbabwe a pariah state*** Mr Straw said in an article in the Observer that Mugabe's policies were leading his country to ruin. "In the name of his 'land reform' policies, Mugabe is reducing his people to starvation. "A fraudulent election earlier this year was characterised by murder and intimidation. His continuing use of state-organised violence since then underlines his determination to hold on to power at all costs." Mr Straw said that Zimbabwe was "a self-made pariah, not a colonial victim" and that the suffering of the country's black population was particularly shocking. "With countries in the region, the Commonwealth, the EU and the US, we will review the impact of the current sanctions regime." But he ruled out economic sanctions. "Mugabe's policies have already imposed too much economic hardship."

Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, renewed his call in the Mail on Sunday yesterday for Mr Blair to make Zimbabwe the "make or break" issue at the summit. Mr Duncan Smith served in Zimbabwe as a soldier when it was still called Rhodesia and the British Army was keeping the peace in the run-up to independence. The experience, and particularly the realisation that political decisions could transform people's lives in very practical ways, persuaded him to become a politician. "It is easy to forget now just how much that infant nation had going for it. It was the bread basket of Southern Africa," Mr Duncan Smith said.***

Sydney Morning Herald - Earth summit: Protesters hit out at 'plot' against poor***The executive director of Friends of the Earth, Charles Secrett, said the group had obtained a leaked paper that "proves that the US and EU will sacrifice the environment and poor countries' needs, all for their own selfish free-trade agenda". The paper calls for wealthy countries to scrap quotas and import duty on goods that originate in the world's least-developed countries.

But Mr Secrett said there were no binding rules to control what he called "predatory corporations" from doing environmental damage in developing countries. "It is all about voluntary business action and market expansion," he said.

The summit is billed by the United Nations as the biggest conference in history, with up to 100 heads of state and 60,000 delegates expected to attend. But with the summit due to officially start this morning, only 20,000 delegates have registered so far.

Non-government organisations and protest groups have called on South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki to stand up to the US and EU to safeguard the environment of developing countries. But he is more likely to be watching reaction to a demonstration outside the conference today by black Zimbabweans living in South Africa. They are demanding that Pretoria impose sanctions against the Government of President Robert Mugabe.

Although there are no official figures, between 1 and 2 million economic refugees from Zimbabwe are estimated to live and work in South Africa. Their presence is putting pressure on Pretoria, with South African workers claiming the immigrants are taking their jobs. Britain's Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, yesterday said Mr Mugabe's land reform policies were reducing his people to starvation. But Mr Straw, writing in The Observer newspaper, said criticism of Mr Mugabe should not dominate the summit.

Britain's Conservative opposition has called on the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who is due to address the summit an hour before Mr Mugabe, to boycott the Zimbabwean leader's speech. Facing international criticism for expelling white farmers from their land, Mr Mugabe retained his most loyal ministers in a surprise cabinet reshuffle on Friday, the official Sunday Mail newspaper said. It said the ministers retained included the Agriculture Minister, Joseph Made, who is in charge of the land seizure program, the Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, and the Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo.***