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The Commonwealth, some say, is held together by its rows over Southern Africa. The latest, a rumoured move against giving New Zealand's Don McKinnon a second term as Secretary General, was later said to be a Zimbabwean plot. The story suggested African hostility to McKinnon, and that an unidentified Sri Lankan would stand. Colombo promptly denied it had a candidate and some African countries including Tanzania and Malawi, which McKinnon was then visiting said they backed him. So did Nigeria, host of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) due on 5-8 December.

Article Tags:
New Zealand, Don McKinnon, Zimbabwean, Sri Lankan, Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, Emeka Anyaoku, Sani Abacha, Robert Mugabe, British, Tony Blair, Elizabeth, Namibia, South Africa, Australian, John Howard, Roman Grynberg, Mexico

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