E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, can you tell us are you disappointed that President Mugabe is not meant to be turning up?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it would have been a good thing to have had a discussion between the four of us but we have the responsibility and we';ll be meeting tomorrow. And I';ve had the opportunity of a very pleasant bilateral meeting with the President. This is I think the first occasion that an Australian Prime Minister in office has visited Nigeria and I';m absolutely delighted to be here and the President was in my country earlier this year and I';m delighted to be here as his guest.
JOURNALIST:
Is suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth now something that will be considered in Abuja?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I';m not going to speculate about what we talk about tomorrow. We';ll have a meeting. President Mbeki is coming tonight and the three of us and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth will get together tomorrow. We have a responsibility of the rest of the Commonwealth to discharge the mandate that was given to us at the Coolum meeting and we';re all resolved to do that. But I';m not going to speculate about what we might talk about tomorrow.
JOURNALIST:
Mr President are you disappointed that President Mugabe won';t be coming to the talks.
PRESIDENT OBASANJO:
Disappoinment would probably be a strong word. It would have made our job easier if he had been here and probably for him to be able to brief us and give us first hand briefing on what really the situation is there and that would have been a good informed way for us to take whatever decision we have to take.
JOURNALIST:
How important is this meeting?
PRESIDENT OBASANJO:
It is important. The situation in Zimbabwe is a situation that cannot continue indefinitely. Apart from the issue of the….there are two humanitarian issues. There are the humanitarian issue on the land side then there';s the humanitarian issue on the drought side. Both of them are very important.
JOURNALIST:
Does the fact that President Mugabe hasn';t turned up now closed the last window of opportunity for dialogue with Zimbabwe as far as the Commonwealth is concerned?
PRESIDENT OBASANJO:
I wouldn';t think so. I would say that probably delays it rather than closes it.
JOURNALIST:
What were the reasons that President Mugabe has given for his decision not to attend?
PRESIDENT OBASANJO:
Well probably he would have wanted to be better invited.
JOURNALIST:
What do you mean by that?
PRESIDENT OBASANJO:
Well you have to find out from him.
JOURNALIST:
Has he been snubbed?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don';t think you could say he';s been snubbed.
[ends]