Leaders to meet to discuss Zimbabwe

Leaders of three key Commonwealth nations will meet later this month to consider how to respond to the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

Australian prime minister John Howard said today that a three-nation committee of Australia, Nigeria and South Africa would meet in Abuja, Nigeria, on September 23 to discuss Zimbabwe.

Six months ago, Howard met South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in London and urged Zimbabwe to make democratic reforms following an election was marred by violence and intimidation by backers of Mugabe’s ruling party.

"It is a matter of regret that six months after our London meeting little substantive progress has yet been made in implementing those steps," Howard said. "Instead, conditions in Zimbabwe have continued to deteriorate."

In March, the Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe from its decision-making councils for a year in protest at the election violence.

It was not immediately clear what further sanctions the three leaders could impose on Mugabe.