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British PM Brown threatens to boycott EU-Africa summit

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has threatened to boycott a summit of African and European leaders in Lisbon later this year if Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attends.

Writing in an early edition of the Independent yesterday, Brown also called for a UN humanitarian mission to the southern African country, and an EU envoy to "support the transition to democracy."

The EU has imposed a travel ban on Mugabe, 83, and Brown said that "there is a reason for this -- the abuse of his own people. There is no freedom in Zimbabwe; no freedom of association; no freedom of the press."

The travel ban has long hampered efforts to organize a second summit between the EU and African states. The first was held in Cairo in 2000.

"President Mugabe's attendance would mean lifting the EU visa ban that we have collectively imposed. I believe that President Mugabe's presence would undermine the summit, diverting attention from the important issues that need to be resolved. In those circumstances, my attendance would not be appropriate," Brown said.

Portugal, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, has said that it has no intention of discriminating against Mugabe in relation to the Dec. 8 to Dec. 9 summit in Lisbon.

Britain is set to announce an additional ?8 million (US$16 million) of aid to be delivered to the former British colony through the World Food Program, and Brown said that he wanted the UN Security Council to send a humanitarian mission to Zimbabwe.

He also called for EU sanctions against more than 100 individuals in Zimbabwe to be more widely applied.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, is seeking a seventh term in office at a time when the country is grappling with the world's highest rate of inflation, put at 6,592.8 percent by official figures released on Tuesday.

Independent economists believe the real rate of inflation may be several thousand percentage points above the official figure.
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