EU finally agrees to renew sanctions on Zimbabwe

The EU agreed last night to a controversial deal to renew sanctions against Zimbabwe while allowing its President, Robert Mugabe, to attend a summit in Paris next week.

However, EU ambassadors will not sign the agreement until tomorrow to give diplomats time to salvage a threatened EU-Africa summit, planned for April. With Britain and four allies at odds with France and Portugal over sanctions, the issue of Zimbabwe had divided the EU, exacerbating friction between London and Paris.

After more than two weeks of talks, all 15 governments backed a proposal yesterday to maintain sanctions for another year. The measures – an EU-wide visa ban, freezing the assets of more than 70 members of the Zimbabwean elite, and an arms export ban – were all due to expire on 18 February.

As a price for backing the deal, the UK, Germany and Netherlands agreed to an exemption from the sanctions to allow France to invite Mr Mugabe to a Franco-African summit in Paris on Wednesday.

However, formal agreement has been put on hold until tomorrow pending a last-ditch effort to save April's EU-African summit in Lisbon. Diplomats expect it to be cancelled because southern African nations are threatening a boycott if Zimbabwe is excluded.

With the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden blocking any invitation to Lisbon for Mr Mugabe, the Greek presidency of the EU wants more time to find a compromise. It is seeking a deal with Zimbabwean and southern African diplomats under which Harare would be represented by its Foreign Minister. A spokesman for the Greek presidency said: "Everybody is concerned that the dialogue between the EU and Africa should go on."

Portugal, which sided with France, won a concession yesterday when it was agreed to water down the right of any country to veto another nation issuing a visa to a banned Zimbabwean. In future, several nations will have to object to stop a visa. However, the UK argues that it has enough allies to stop this loophole being exploited.

The decision comes as South Africa and Nigeria are seeking to readmit Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth.

Glenys Kinnock, the Labour MEP, welcomed the EU's move. She said: "We were never going to stop Mugabe's visit to Paris and if we had made a big issue of it we would have lost everything. But five or six states have stood up and said they are not prepared to be held hostage, either by Mugabe or by a combination of France and Portugal."