LISBON (AFP) — Leaders of Europe and Africa were to begin a landmark summit Saturday designed to forge a new partnership of equals, but with strains showing over trade and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's presence.
With hosts Portugal promising a weekend of no holds-barred debate, the two-day gathering of prime ministers and presidents from around 70 countries offers the opportunity to both tackle common concerns and reopen wounds.
The summit also marks a return to the European stage for Mugabe, usually banned from the European Union for allegedly rigging his 2002 re-election, and whose presence has prompted ex-colonial power Britain to keep its ministers at home.
Other European leaders however have ignored Britain's lead and argued that dialogue is the best place to deal with issues, such as 83-year-old Mugabe's rights record and the conflict in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
"The realisation of this summit is in itself a success as it signifies the reopening of political dialogue after seven long years," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said on the eve of what is only the second ever EU-Africa summit since an inaugural gathering in Cairo in 2000.
"This will be a summit where we can discuss the whole range of politics, free of taboos, without any no-go areas, and we can debate every subject with total freedom."
African heads of state are likely to resist any effort to frame debate merely on Europe's terms with veteran Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi calling Friday for European powers to compensate Africa for its colonial rule.
"The colonial powers must compensate the people that they colonised and whose riches they plundered," Kadhafi said. "This will be one of the main issues of the summit -- compensation for the colonial period."
After the official opening of the summit in a giant exhibition centre in Lisbon, the leaders are expected to begin a series of five debates on topics including peace and security, human rights and governance, immigration and employment, the environment and trade.
Zimbabwe is likely to feature when German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks for the EU during the rights and governance debate. South African President Thabo Mbeki, tasked to mediate in a feud between Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition, will reply on behalf of Africa.
While the rights debate is likely to dominate headlines, the stickiest issue could be over trade where Europe has failed to persuade many African countries to sign up to new pacts once existing agreements expire at the end of the year.
Europe still remains the major market for African goods, but China's presence in the resource-rich continent is growing by the day as it seeks the raw materials needed to fuel its economic growth.
Chinese soft loans, which rarely come with strings attached, have gratefully received by some African countries who are often frustrated by the conditions which accompany European aid packages as well as red tape.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a predecessor of Barroso at the helm of the European Commission, will present the EU's case in the trade debate while Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, a prime proponent of closer African integration, will reply.
A series of protests have been scheduled for the sidelines of the summit, including by Zimbabwean rights activists and over the conflict in Darfur.
All but a handful of Africa's 53 heads of state are attending, notable exceptions being the ailing Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Joseph Kabila and Kenya's Mwai Kibaki who is fighting for re-election later this month.
A massive security operation has been put in place, with roads sealed off and helicopters seen buzzing over the exhibition centre where around 5,000 delegates and journalists are to gather.
SOURCE: AFP, December 8, 2007
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