Today's Times has published an excellent leader on the pre-summit rumpus between Europe and Africa concerning Robert Mugabe (who insists he will attend) and Gordon Brown (who, because of Mugabe's presence, insists he won't).
The criticism levelled at Mr Brown from both African and EU leaders is ludicrous. For African governments to request an increase in aid whilst hailing a Mugabe as an anti-imperialist icon is the worst form of hypocrisy. The stance taken by EU leaders is no less problematic. The president of the European commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, uttered patronisingly in Brown's direction: 'If you are an international leader then you are going to have to be prepared to meet some people your mother would not like you to meet.' To redefine the systematic destruction of the bread-basket of Africa as a post-colonial tiff is a grave insult to the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans.
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