Just days before elections in Zimbabwe, Commonwealth ministers were meeting today to discuss imposing sanctions on Harare over violence and intimidation by supporters of President Robert Mugabe.

A meeting next month of British Commonwealth leaders will help build support for the US offensive against terrorism and should go ahead as planned, Australia’s foreign minister Alexander Downer said today.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today rejected calls by legislators to ban Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe from a Commonwealth summit in October.