(Corrects paragraph 18 to EU-Africa not Commonwealth meeting) By Silvia Aloisi ROME, June 2 (Reuters) - Britain criticised Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday for attending this week's global food summit in Rome, saying he was responsible for food shortages in his own country. The leader of the former British colony flew into Rome late on Sunday, making his first official trip abroad since elections condemned by Western and opposition leaders as fraudulent. He will attend a United Nations summit on soaring food prices and their impact on the world's poor starting on Tuesday. "We think it's particularly unfortunate that he's decided to attend this meeting given what he's done in relation to contributing to the difficulties with food supplies" in Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said. The unexpected presence of Mugabe, accused by critics of running down agriculture and causing food shortages in his own country, could offer a rare opportunity for direct contacts with Western leaders. However, Brown's spokesman said there was no plan for International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, who will represent Britain at the summit, to meet Mugabe. "He won't be meeting Mugabe or having anything to do with him. There won't be any engagement or interaction with Mugabe," the spokesman said. Mugabe, facing a June 27 presidential run-off against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, is in Rome with his wife and a large delegation of officials. The European Union has a longstanding travel ban on the veteran leader, accused by opponents and Western countries of a campaign of violence against the opposition. Since the FAO summit is taking place under a United Nations umbrella, however, the Rome meeting will be open to him. PROTEST PLANNED Around 60 heads of state and government are meeting in Rome from June 3-5 to discuss global poverty caused by steep food prices. An Italian leftist politician has announced a sit-in protest in Rome on Tuesday against both Mugabe and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will be making his first trip to Western Europe as Iran's president. In 2005 Mugabe attended the FAO's 60 anniversary celebrations, where he railed against U.S. President George W. Bush and then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, calling them "international terrorists" and comparing them to Adolf Hitler. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. Electoral commission figures showed Tsvangirai won most votes in the first round of the election, but not enough to avoid a run-off. The opposition complained of vote rigging. Zimbabwe's economy is a shambles. Inflation is 165,000 percent, unemployment 80 percent and there are chronic shortages of basic necessities including food and fuel. Some 3.5 million people have fled to neighbouring countries to escape poverty and malnutrition. Mugabe, 84, accuses Western countries of sabotaging Zimbabwe's economy through sanctions imposed to punish him and top ruling party officials for alleged rights abuses and election fraud. Mugabe's last trip to Europe in December for an EU-Africa meeting in Portugal was boycotted by the British prime minister to protest the Zimbabwean leader's participation.(Additional reporting by Katherine Baldwin in London, Phil Stewart in Rome, MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
A girl carries a poster that reads: "Who has hunger? I", during a march in Tegucigalpa June 1, 2008. Honduras is one of Latin America's poorest countries, with nearly three-quarters of ...
