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Crisis talks on CAR as mammoth EU-Africa summit opens

– A partnership of equals –

More than three years after former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hosted the last EU-Africa summit in Tripoli – dedicated largely to his own glory – post-colonial and trade tensions, as well as worries over China’s influence, are lingering.

The seizure of Gaddafi’s massive stocks of arms by mercenaries after his ouster is held responsible in part for jihadist-linked unrest that since has unravelled across vast swathes of Africa, notably in Mali and Niger.

The EU has waded in to help UN and African peacekeepers restore peace there as well as in Somalia.

“I hope the summit will mark a new stage in our relationship with Africa,” said EU council president Herman Van Rompuy. It was time for a “shift from development cooperation to a partnership of equals with trade and investment playing a key role,” he added.

An overwhelming majority of leaders from both continents are attending, though a notable last-minute stay-away is Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, boycotting in protest at an EU refusal to temporarily suspend a visa ban on his wife to allow her to also come to Brussels.

The EU relaxed sanctions against Zimbabwe earlier this year but maintained a travel ban against 90-year-old Mugabe and his wife for another year while agreeing the Zimbabwe president leader could travel to international forums.

Also absent will be Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges relating to Darfur – another irritant in Europe-Africa relations with some Africans complaining it is up to Africans to judge Africans.

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