Aborigines 'have asked Mugabe for help on land rights'

Zimbabwe stepped up its propaganda campaign over seizures of white-owned farms on Monday, saying that Australian Aborigines have enlisted the help of President Robert Mugabe in their quest for land rights.

Aboriginal activists want Mr Mugabe to lobby for them at the Commonwealth summit in Brisbane in October, according to the government-controlled Herald newspaper.

In a letter to Mr Mugabe, the leaders of Australia's Aborigines, who were not identified by the newspaper, claimed the Australian government had offered Mr Mugabe tight security at the summit in an attempt to muzzle him on land rights. The letter read: "They are scared your presence in Australia will excite Aborigines whose land was stolen from them by white settlers."

Its allegations came after reports at the weekend that Australian officials believed Mr Mugabe's security was at risk from human-rights protesters and gay activists.

The human rights group Amnesty International said it was planning protests against Mr Mugabe's increasingly repressive policies at home and his outspoken criticism of homosexuals.

Others among the 50 heads of government being targeted for protests include Kenya's President, Daniel arap Moi, Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, a close friend and ally of Mr Mugabe, and Sri Lanka's leader, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

The Australian-born gay activist Peter Tatchell has vowed to confront Mr Mugabe during the summit. Mr Tatchell was assaulted by Mr Mugabe's bodyguards in Brussels in February when attempting a symbolic citizen's arrest of the Zimbabwean President for human rights violations.(AP)