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Africa, EU agree summit declaration

CAIRO: European Union and African foreign ministers agreed on a summit declaration and action plan for their new relationship on Sunday, after compromising on issues from nuclear weapons to ancient monuments.

The summit, the first of its kind, is intended to set up a new framework for economic and political dialogue between the 15-member EU and the world's poorest continent.

But concern over violence in Zimbabwe threw a shadow over the meeting of Africans keen to highlight socio-economic problems and Europeans wanting to put the emphasis on governance, conflict prevention, human rights and democracy.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama, speaking for the EU, told reporters the draft communique for the 67-nation summit, which opens on Monday, had been successfully completed.

"It was hard work but it has been fruitful," Gama said. "All of the issues were solved by consensus. We have common texts on both the summit declaration and the plan of action."

Gama said Africa's desire for formal continuity of the new bloc-to-bloc relationship would be met with agreement to set up a permanent committee of senior officials, hold ministerial conferences as necessary and convene a follow-up summit in 2003, probably in Greece.

He said an important agreement had been reached on Africa's demand for the restitution of historical monuments and cultural artefacts from Africa, now gracing many European museums.

"This accord went beyond existing United Nations agreements," Gama said, but declined to give details.

EU officials said earlier that Europe was prepared to undertake the return of "stolen and illicitly exported items".

They said an African proposal championed by Egypt for a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East - a reference to Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal - had drawn strong objections from Germany in particular. They said the final communique would contain no specific reference to the Middle East.

Gama said the EU was satisfied that the draft communique, which must be approved by the leaders, balanced African and European concerns.

ZIMBABWE UNREST CLOUDS CAIRO TALKS

The ministers met amid concern over violence in Zimbabwe, whose government was roundly criticised by Britain for the use of force against peaceful demonstrators in Harare on Saturday.

The trouble began when pro-Mugabe war veterans attacked demonstrators opposed to the president and riot police fired teargas, raising fears of chaos ahead of this year's elections.

"The events of Saturday are of course a matter of very great concern. In particular we are worried that the police appeared to be slow to react," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told reporters in Cairo.

"It is very important that the people of Zimbabwe should have the right to peaceful demonstration and that they are entitled to be protected when they carry out that right by the forces of law and order."

Embattled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe set out for Cairo on Sunday despite tension at home and a likely cool reception from EU leaders.

EU leaders are expected to tell their African counterparts that the conflicts, political instability and poor governance bedevilling Africa will deter foreign investment on the scale needed to alleviate crippling poverty and underdevelopment.

Africans are likely to argue that fairer trade terms and generous debt relief are needed to enable their economies to compete on level terms and integrate into the global economy.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa told the ministerial meeting that a key area for cooperation with Europe was debt relief to free resources for reform and infrastructure.

"The retreat in its (Africa's) share of international trade in past years threatens to marginalise the chances of African economies catching up with the world economic order," he said.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Saturday that debt relief was too complex an issue for a single solution.

"We cannot find an answer to this problem for the continent as a whole", he said, noting that debt burdens and resources varied from one African nation to another. Debt forgiveness might be the best option for some and rescheduling for others.

Of the world's 48 poorest countries, where people survive on less than $1 a day, 33 are in Africa, and nearly all are tortured by civil war, according to the United Nations.-Reuters