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September 7, 2008 12:52:33 AM CDT

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Defiant African Leaders Reject EU Trade Deal

Posted Dec 10, 07 4:03 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – European-African trade talks at a tense Lisbon summit collapsed in their final session yesterday. If a new agreement isn’t reached by year’s end, the European Union may levy higher tariffs on African exports, further exacerbating tensions between the continents. A new, controversial set of agreements would have dropped duty on most imports from Africa in exchange for granting Europe liberalized access to African markets.

"No one will make us believe we don't have the right to protect our economic fabric," said the president of the African Union commission. Anti-poverty activists had been protesting the agreements, saying they would hurt poor African farmers and future development on the continent. Summit leaders talked trade but also traded barbs over human rights and controversial Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, the Guardian reports.

Sources Guardian (UK), BBC

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Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, right, shares a word with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir during a group photo at an EU Africa summit in Lisbon, Saturday Dec. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)   (Associated Press)
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, right, raises his fist as he arrives for an EU Africa Summit in Lisbon, Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Paulo Duarte)   (Associated Press)
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gestures at the closing ceremony of an EU Africa Summit in Lisbon, Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)   (Associated Press)
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, left, waves as he arrives for an EU Africa Summit in Lisbon, Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. African leaders rejected the EU's strategic partnership agreement on Sunday, after...   (Associated Press)
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade speaks during a media conference at an EU Africa summit in Lisbon, Saturday Dec. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Paulo Duarte)   (Associated Press)
Protestors demonstrate outside of an EU Africa summit in Lisbon, Saturday Dec. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Paulo Duarte)   (Associated Press)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, shares a word with South African President Thabo Mbeki , left, during a group photo at an EU Africa summit in Lisbon, Saturday Dec. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Paulo Duarte)   (Associated Press)
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European Union  • Zimbabwe  • Gordon Brown  • Robert Mugabe  • Africa  • Europe  • South Africa  • Angela Merkel  • Thabo Mbeki  • African Union  • tariffs  • WTO  • Lisbon  • Senegal



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