The Blair mission

After a second landslide, Britain's PM promises more time for Africa this term

Five days after the Labour Party's landslide victory in the 7 June parliamentary elections, South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki arrived in London and was the first visiting head of state to congratulate Prime Minister Tony Blair in person. The events are unrelated: the Mbeki trip had been arranged (and nearly scuppered after a contretemps over Zimbabwe) six months before the election date was decided.

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South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, Tony Blair, Zimbabwe, Elizabeth, United States, French, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Congo-Kinshasa, Margaret Thatcher, Japan, Zambian, Stanley Fischer, Contradictions between policy and resources, India, Pakistan, Charles Powell, Jonathan, Robin Cook, Jack Straw, The dynamic duo, Valerie Amos, Guyanese, Ghanaian, Spain, Clare Short, Lynda Chalker, Gordon Brown, Robert Mugabe, Portugal, Ibrahim Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo, Sani Abacha, Sudan, Business before peace, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hassan Abdullah el Turabi, Chinese, Malaysian, Kenya, Tanzania, Alan Fletcher Goulty, Libyan, Egyptian, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sweden, Hubert Védrine, Mali, Laurent Gbagbo, Côte d'Ivoire, El Shifa

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