African nations closed ranks around Zimbabwe today as white members of the Commonwealth bloc tried in vain to suspend the country from the organization of mainly former British colonies.
With Britain calling for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the group over claims of vote-rigging ahead of March 9th-10th presidential poll, Zimbabwe accused British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair of trying to re-colonize Africa.
"Mr. Blair should shut up...," Zimbabwe Information Minister Mr Jonathan Moyo told reporters as the leaders discussed Zimbabwe.
"It is obvious to anyone who has been following this problem that there is racism involved in the matter," he added referring to the criticism of Zimbabwe.
Australia, which backs Britain, said the Commonwealth had split on white-black lines. African states making up one third of the 54-member body have united behind President Robert Mugabe in an effort to protect one of their own.
"There is this whole notion of Africans protecting themselves against the criticism of countries outside," Australian Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer said.
The issue of Zimbabwe was always going to dominate the summit, but the fiery debate today almost drowned out other issues such as climate change and the fight against HIV-AIDS.
The tiny South Pacific island state of Tuvalu made an impassioned plea for large polluters, such as Australia, to take a tougher stance against global warming which threatens low-lying island nations as rising temperatures cause ocean waters to rise.
A report on HIV-AIDS revealed that Commonwealth states, among the world's poorest, had 60 per cent of the world's cases and were struggling to combat the deadly disease in the face of cultural taboos and prejudices.