| Prime Minister John Howard has warned that readmitting Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth would set a dangerous precedent for other errant states. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in March 2002. The issue will be considered by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Nigeria next month and some African countries have been lobbying for Zimbabwe to be readmitted. Mr Howard has reiterated Australia’s strong opposition to the country’s readmission, arguing that conditions under the Mugabe Government have continued to worsen. "Readmitting Zimbabwe without concrete progress towards meeting the Commonwealth’s benchmarks will not only undermine the organisation’s credibility, it is also plainly unfair to those countries that have taken the necessary steps to live up to commonwealth values," he said. Mr Howard will attend the meeting in Nigeria and he says the issue will be a significant test of the Commonwealth’s relevance and credibility. |