Brown tells why he plans to boycott Mugabe summit

As revealed by the Evening Standard last night, Mr Brown will not turn up for the EU-Africa summit in protest at the expected presence of the Zimbabwean leader.

With the southern African country in the grip of an economic and humanitarian catastrophe, the Prime Minister called on fellow world leaders to bring more pressure to bear on the Harare regime. Describing the situation in the former British colony as "appalling and tragic", Mr Brown accused the Zimbabwean president of abusing his own people.

He urged the deployment of a UN humanitarian mission and promised support for Zimbabwe's economic reconstruction once Mr Mugabe went.

He said that he would not attend a December meeting of the African Union and European Union in Portugal if Mr Mugabe were there.

The Prime Minister insisted that EU sanctions - in place against 131 people in the Zimbabwean government - must be applied to more. "President Mugabe is the only African leader to face an EU travel ban," Mr Brown wrote in The Independent.

"There is a reason for this - the abuse of his own people. There is no freedom in Zimbabwe; no freedom of association; no freedom of the press.

President Mugabe's attendance would mean lifting the EU visa ban that we have imposed. I believe that President Mugabe's presence would undermine the summit... In those circumstances, my attendance would not be appropriate."

The plight of Zimbabweans has come to the fore in recent weeks as the economic crisis has escalated. Mr Brown said he would press the UN Security Council to dispatch a humanitarian mission and urge the EU to send an envoy to "support the transition to democracy".