The summit of European and African leaders this weekend risks being hijacked by the presence of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Christian Aid said on Tuesday. The development agency says the European Union should not have lifted the travel ban.

A Christian aid agency reports that Zimbabwe is in an increasingly desperate situation, with little food due to drought and poor harvests, and the collapse of civil infrastructure meaning basic services are no longer available to the majority of Zimbabweans.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown look set to boycott a summit of European and African leaders to be attended by the Zimbabwean President. It follows a call at the weekend by Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, to take a tougher line on Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's Roman Catholic bishops have damned Robert Mugabe's government as "racist, corrupt and lawless" - likening the struggle against it to the country's liberation war against white rule.