December 9, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1424

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ABUJA, Dec 8: Zimbabwe said on Sunday it was quitting the Commonwealth after the organization extended its suspension of the southern African country for violating its democratic principles.

Zimbabwe’s information minister said the suspension, renewed at a summit on Sunday in Nigeria, proved that “racist leaders in Britain and Australia” had taken over the group whose members are mainly former British colonies.

Talks on Zimbabwe had dominated a four-day Commonwealth summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja, causing the worst split since South Africa’s apartheid in the 1970s and 1980s and dividing its 54 members largely on colour lines.

Zimbabwe was suspended early last year on the grounds that President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country since independence in 1980, rigged his re-election last year and persecuted his opponents.

Some African Commonwealth members lobbied hard for its readmission but failed to win the day.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had led the drive to keep Harare suspended, said it would send “a clear message to people in Zimbabwe that the Commonwealth is on the side of democracy and human rights”.

The government in Harare said the leaders of Jamaica, Nigeria and South Africa called Mr Mugabe on Sunday to urge him not to pull out, but to no avail.

“Accordingly, Zimbabwe has withdrawn its membership from the Commonwealth with immediate effect,” it said.—Reuters