Queen Elizabeth opens trade-centred Commonwealth summit

By Nicholas Rigillo Nov 25, 2005, 19:10 GMT

Valletta - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Friday officially opened a Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, with global trade talks dominating the three-day summit in the Mediterranean island.

The organization's head, Secretary-General Don McKinnon, has called on the 53-nation club to pull together and present a common front at next month's World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Hong Kong.

'If we here in Valletta can give the WTO talks the shot in the arm that it requires, then our organization will have shown its global worth again,' McKinnon said in his opening speech to delegates.

A total of 53 heads of state, government leaders and high-level officials - many of them from developing countries - are meeting to discuss a broad range of subjects, from terrorism to globalisation and ways to bridge the digital divide between the rich and poor.

But with the December 13-18 WTO talks looming, much of the discussions focus on how Commonwealth members can convince rich countries to make concessions in Hong Kong.

The CHOGM will be expected to reaffirm developing countries' demands for drastic cuts in import tariffs on farm goods, which they say make poorer nations' products more expensive on U.S. and European markets, and an end to trade- distorting subsidies to farmers paid out by the United States and the European Union.

'We expect the fast removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers on trade in the world and the removal of unfair farm subsidies by the E.U., Japan and the United States,' Uganda President Yoweri Museveni said.

Much of the spotlight is on British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has made the fight against global poverty one of his battle cries but who currently also needs to defend E.U. interests as he holds the organization's rotating presidency.

Comprising 53 member states representing 1.8 billion people, the Commonwealth accounts for a fifth of global trade. And while trade was seen in Malta as 'the most potent weapon to combat poverty', members say they have been 'largely disappointed' by the latest round of WTO talks.

The defence of human rights was also coming under discussion in Malta, with activists pointing their fingers at Uganda over alleged violations there.

The country's president, Yoweri Museveni, has sought to defend his human rights record following the arrest of the country's opposition leader ahead of next year's election.

Kizza Besigye risks the death penalty after being arrested over a number of charges, including treason, terrorism and the illegal possession of firearms.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a pressure group, wants the summit to launch a fact finding mission in Uganda and says the country, like Zimbabwe before it, should be suspended from the Commonwealth if cases of blatant human right violations are substantiated.

They also say that given its track record on the human rights front, Uganda should not enjoy the privilege of hosting the next CHOGM, which is due to take place there in 2007.

The Malta summit was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II as the honorary head of an organization comprising mostly former British colonies in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

Clad in a red dress and matching hat, the 79-year-old monarch recalled the 'colourful spectrum' of nations that make up the Commonwealth.

She also thanked delegates for 'the many expressions of sympathy and support' received in the aftermath of the July bombings in London and called for 'determined and collective action' to help tackle 'the scourge of terrorism, which is a threat to us all and has directly affected a number of our countries'.