French President Jacques Chirac and some 45 African heads of state
kick off talks here Thursday after a day of protests over the
presence of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, attending the two-day
Franco-African Summit despite a European Union travel ban.
The Zimbabwean president's presence in Paris sparked several protests Wednesday, including one organized by British gay and human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who has asked the French courts to issue a warrant for Mugabe's arrest for human rights abuses.
A larger demonstration in the evening drew about 1,000 people blaming French policies for "most of Africa's woes".
"Let's stop supporting dictators, let's support African peoples," one banner read at the protest backing an alternative summit of representatives of African civil society being held in Paris this week.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against the presidents of Chad, Congo, Gabon and Togo, all part of a smaller coterie of 20 nations with especially close ties to France who joined Chirac for a pre-summit meeting on Wednesday evening.
The European Union on Tuesday renewed year-old sanctions against Mugabe and 71 of his associates, but France successfully pressed for a waiver to have the Zimbabwean leader attend the biennial gathering with African leaders.
Despite strong opposition from Britain, Chirac has defended the move as a way to confront Mugabe face-to-face over the political and economic turmoil engulfing his southern African country.
"It's appalling that France would allow Mugabe to come," said Esma Levendoglu, whose 18-year-old brother, opposition activist Tom Spicer, claims to have been tortured by Zimbabwe police and whose affidavit is part of the basis of Tatchell's complaint.
Tatchell said before lodging the complaint Wednesday: "Mugabe should not be wined and dined at the Elysee Palace (Chirac's official residence). He should be put on trial for the crime of torture."
About a dozen protestors denounced Mugabe's anti-gay stance outside Zimbabwe's embassy here, and another dozen demonstrators were arrested outside the luxury Plaza Athenee hotel where the Zimbabwean leader is staying.
Conspicuous by his absence from the summit will be Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, who last month controversially accepted a French-brokered peace deal to end a war sparked by a rebel uprising in mid-September.
Ivory Coast's new Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, who is still struggling to form a government of national unity that would include rebel groups, will represent Gbagbo at the summit.
The rebels claim that the peace accord -- which ignited days of anti-French riots in France's former colony -- gave them the key interior and defense ministries in a power-sharing government and have demanded its implementation.
But the Ivorian armed forces and four major political parties have said they will not accept rebels in the government.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to address the biennial meeting, whose official theme is "Africa and France, Together in a New Partnership", but Chirac's contentious invitation to Mugabe and the looming threat of renewed conflict in Ivory Coast are the pressing issues.
The EU sanctions were imposed a year ago amid global outrage over Mugabe's repressive policies and human rights record.
His government's controversial land redistribution program, presented as a bid to rectify imbalances that were a legacy of British colonial rule, have gutted Zimbabwe's agricultural production and contributed to widespread hunger in the country.
Among the other heads of state expected to attend the summit are Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Morocco's King Mohammed VI.
Besides Gbagbo, presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola are among the no-shows.
Foreign ministers from countries participating in the summit held preparatory talks on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's opening ceremony.
More than 3,000 French police will be deployed to protect the visiting dignitaries and keep planned demonstrations under control - Sapa-AFP
The Zimbabwean president's presence in Paris sparked several protests Wednesday, including one organized by British gay and human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who has asked the French courts to issue a warrant for Mugabe's arrest for human rights abuses.
A larger demonstration in the evening drew about 1,000 people blaming French policies for "most of Africa's woes".
"Let's stop supporting dictators, let's support African peoples," one banner read at the protest backing an alternative summit of representatives of African civil society being held in Paris this week.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against the presidents of Chad, Congo, Gabon and Togo, all part of a smaller coterie of 20 nations with especially close ties to France who joined Chirac for a pre-summit meeting on Wednesday evening.
The European Union on Tuesday renewed year-old sanctions against Mugabe and 71 of his associates, but France successfully pressed for a waiver to have the Zimbabwean leader attend the biennial gathering with African leaders.
Despite strong opposition from Britain, Chirac has defended the move as a way to confront Mugabe face-to-face over the political and economic turmoil engulfing his southern African country.
"It's appalling that France would allow Mugabe to come," said Esma Levendoglu, whose 18-year-old brother, opposition activist Tom Spicer, claims to have been tortured by Zimbabwe police and whose affidavit is part of the basis of Tatchell's complaint.
Tatchell said before lodging the complaint Wednesday: "Mugabe should not be wined and dined at the Elysee Palace (Chirac's official residence). He should be put on trial for the crime of torture."
About a dozen protestors denounced Mugabe's anti-gay stance outside Zimbabwe's embassy here, and another dozen demonstrators were arrested outside the luxury Plaza Athenee hotel where the Zimbabwean leader is staying.
Conspicuous by his absence from the summit will be Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, who last month controversially accepted a French-brokered peace deal to end a war sparked by a rebel uprising in mid-September.
Ivory Coast's new Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, who is still struggling to form a government of national unity that would include rebel groups, will represent Gbagbo at the summit.
The rebels claim that the peace accord -- which ignited days of anti-French riots in France's former colony -- gave them the key interior and defense ministries in a power-sharing government and have demanded its implementation.
But the Ivorian armed forces and four major political parties have said they will not accept rebels in the government.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to address the biennial meeting, whose official theme is "Africa and France, Together in a New Partnership", but Chirac's contentious invitation to Mugabe and the looming threat of renewed conflict in Ivory Coast are the pressing issues.
The EU sanctions were imposed a year ago amid global outrage over Mugabe's repressive policies and human rights record.
His government's controversial land redistribution program, presented as a bid to rectify imbalances that were a legacy of British colonial rule, have gutted Zimbabwe's agricultural production and contributed to widespread hunger in the country.
Among the other heads of state expected to attend the summit are Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Morocco's King Mohammed VI.
Besides Gbagbo, presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola are among the no-shows.
Foreign ministers from countries participating in the summit held preparatory talks on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's opening ceremony.
More than 3,000 French police will be deployed to protect the visiting dignitaries and keep planned demonstrations under control - Sapa-AFP
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