Africa leaders resist Zimbabwe action

Australian Prime Minister John Howard greets Queen Elizabeth at Coolum

COOLUM, Australia -- African Commonwealth leaders have defied Britain's call for the organisation to deliver Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe an ultimatum to hold free elections or face punitive action.

Speaking at the start of a biennial Commonwealth summit in Australia, several African heads of state said it was too soon to talk of action before the March 9-10 presidential vote, when Mugabe faces his toughest electoral challenge in 22 years.

"That is too radical to think of right now," Ghana's President John Kufuor told reporters when asked if the Commonwealth should consider sanctions against Zimbabwe.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has argued for Zimbabwe's immediate suspension from the Commonwealth, accusing Mugabe of orchestrating a campaign of intimidation against political opponents which violates basic democratic values.

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He has called on the group of 54 nations -- mainly ex-British colonies -- to express its "total abhorrence" of Mugabe's actions and to set up a mechanism to act against Zimbabwe if Commonwealth observers report violations in the vote.

The European Union has already imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe's inner circle and withdrawn its election observers after Zimbabwe refused to accredit their team leader. The United States has said it is following suit.

Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe for 22 years, faces a stern challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Elaborate ceremony

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the biennial summit of Commonwealth leaders near Brisbane on Saturday.

An elaborate opening ceremony featuring Aboriginal dancers and surf life savers on Saturday welcomed leaders of about 35 from 54 Commonwealth nations at the meeting held at a luxury resort in Coolum on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

The shadow of September 11 hangs heavily over the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which is hoped to develop recommendations for a plan of action on terrorism which would be designed to complement United Nations initiatives, Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said.

The 2002 CHOGM is a scaled down event following the postponing of the original meeting -- scheduled for October last year -- because of the attacks on New York and Washington.

Only two member countries -- Antigua and Granada -- have totally withdrawn from meeting and apart from the late withdrawal of the leaders from India and Sri Lanka due to domestic upheavals, McKinnon said other leaders had pulled out due to the timing of the meeting.

Many Commonwealth countries worked on a March 31 financial year meaning some leaders preferred to stay at home to oversee budgetary matters, he said.

Security at CHOGM is all-pervasive regardless, despite the no-frills approach of the meetings organizers.

More than 6,000 security personnel are monitoring the event and the air-space over the venue has been closed down.

Australian Air Force fighter jets are patrolling the area and conducting security exercises, which led to speculation a small aircraft flying near the site had been forced to land by the jets.

Conference organizers told media that the incident was a practice-run only.

Access to the delegates and the meetings is also being strictly controlled with the 943 journalists present being confined to a media center far removed from the leaders.