Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe confronted European critics of his human rights record on Monday during a one-day trip to Belgium which included a bid to "arrest" him by a gay rights campaigner.
Mugabe, rapped by the West over his drive to seize white-owned farms and his intimidation of Zimbabwe's independent media and judiciary, is a special hate figure for homosexuals, whom he has branded as "dogs".
The veteran African leader steered well clear of reporters during his visit but his bodyguards had to intervene when Peter Tatchell, a prominent British gay rights campaigner, tried to make a citizen's arrest of their president.
Tatchell yelled "Arrest Mugabe, arrest the torturer" as Mugabe left the Hilton Hotel in Brussels.
In the ensuing scuffle, Tatchell was pushed to the ground. He said he had been punched by a Zimbabwean bodyguard.
"I am OK, I fell down," he told reporters.
"I said the president should be arrested for the crime of torture under the 1984 United Nations' Convention on Torture of which Belgium is a signatory," Tatchell said.
Tatchell and two other members of their group OutRage also tried to effect a citizen's arrest last October during a private visit by Mugabe to Britain.
Mugabe says journalists safe
In his talks with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and other officials, Mugabe defended his human rights record and also pledged to support the fragile peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony.
"President Mugabe denied rumours that he was planning to expel all foreign journalists from Zimbabwe," Verhofstadt's spokesman Alain Gerlache told Reuters.
He said Mugabe had also given assurances to Belgium about the freedom of Zimbabwe's judiciary, noting last week's decision to reinstate Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay until July 1 and the withdrawal of allegations of bias against him.
For two days, Gubbay, 69, had defied a government order to take early retirement from March 1 while the government insisted he had retired and that it would appoint a successor.
Mugabe's supporters have threatened to chase some white judges out of courtrooms and to invade the homes of those seen as opposed to the government.
Gerlache said Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Louis Michel had urged Mugabe to protect the life and property of white farmers, who include a small number of Belgians, in Zimbabwe.
But he said Mugabe had reiterated the official line that some farmland should be redistributed to black Zimbabweans.
European Commissioner for Development Poul Nielson raised the EU's worries about human rights in Zimbabwe over a lunch meeting with Mugabe. The two sides agreed to launch a formal "political dialogue" over the concerns, EU officials said.
Zimbabwe could pull out troops
Belgium invited Mugabe mainly to discuss the latest efforts to cement peace in Democratic Congo, Zimbabwe's vast, mineral- rich neighbour. Zimbabwe is a key ally of Congo President Joseph Kabila.
Belgian officials quoted Mugabe as saying he was ready to withdraw Zimbabwean troops from Congo in the right conditions.
"He fears a political and military vacuum if the troops pull out," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Koen Vervaeke, adding that Mugabe had stressed the need for dialogue between all parties to the Congolese conflict.
Belgian Foreign Minister Michel also held talks on Monday with Ketumile Masire, the former Botswanan president who is now mediator in the Congolese conflict. Masire told Michel he would return to Kinshasa, the Congo capital, later this month.
Hopes for peace in Congo have risen since Kabila succeeded his slain father as leader in January. Rwanda and Uganda, which back the rebels, have begun withdrawing their troops.
COPYRIGHT REUTERS
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