'Dancing with wolves'

Zimbabwe's pro-government Sunday Mail plays down Nigeria's decision not to invite Robert Mugabe's state to the forthcoming Abuja summit.

"The Commonwealth has become irrelevant and useless because of the bully behaviour of the white Commonwealth," commentator Munyaradzi Huni says.

President Obasanjo is "cracking under the pressure of the white Commonwealth," the author continues.

The paper wonders if Mr Obasanjo was "so scared" of Australia, Britain and New Zealand boycotting the meeting that he was "prepared to ignore the views of the black Commonwealth countries?"

"Obasanjo must not bow to Western pressure", it says.

"It's the time to speak out loudly against any threats or intimidation by the West".

The way Nigeria handles the issue "will determine whether Africa has come of age", the paper adds.

"The world is watching and it would be tragic if 'big brother Nigeria' dances with wolves."

'Appeasement'

Writing in South Africa's Star, analyst Phil Mtimkulu applauds Mr Obasanjo's decision.

"This is the first sanction to be imposed on Mugabe by an African leader," the writer says, pointing out that the true significance of the gesture is in the fact that the decision was made by someone generally sympathetic to Mr Mugabe's "lies".

"I hope now that Obasanjo, who is well respected in Africa, has shown the way, other African leaders will follow him and abandon Mugabe".

But South Africa's Sowetan disagrees, urging the Commonwealth to reverse its decision.

The move is "an attempt to appease influential white members of the 54-nation club.. who have threatened to boycott the meeting should Mugabe be invited".

Snubbing Mugabe will do precious little to pull Zimbabwe out of its quagmire South Africa's Sowetan

"Snubbing Mugabe will do precious little to pull Zimbabwe out of its quagmire. Worse, it will not end the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans."

The "unfortunate" decision "will merely paper the cracks in the Commonwealth", it says.

An invitation to Mr Mugabe would have given him "the opportunity of experiencing, first hand, the depth of the resentment that his white counterparts have for him and his government. It is not too late."

Inviting Mugabe would have sent "wrong signals", Botswana's Mmegi says.

"Mugabe's presence in Nigeria would only harden his dictatorial tendencies."

'British hand'

DRCongo's French-language L'Avenir sees Britain's hand in the Commonwealth's decision.

Obasanjo delivered Britain's verdict DRCongo's L'Avenir

"Obasanjo delivered Britain's verdict" commentator J Diana G says in an article headlined "Mugabe a victim of British neo-colonialism".

"What is disturbing, if not immoral, is that the British, backed by Australia, for the purpose in hand, are shamefully blackmailing the Zimbabwean president."

"Mugabe's sin... is having asked for a bit of land for the Zimbabwean people... It was unthinkable for London not to use the Commonwealth, an instrument of its neo-colonial politics, to put more pressure on Mugabe."

"What do the Nigerians, South Africans... have against Mugabe? Nothing at all. But they [have] resigned themselves to the will of the British. Faced with... the acceptance of British neo-colonialism, Mugabe does not have to be sorry about having missed the mass".

Picking up the bill

Papers in Nigeria are more concerned about the financial implications of hosting the meeting than Mr Mugabe's future.

This Day says hosting the meeting "may be expensive but it may also serve as a tonic to the country's ailing economy".

"Nigeria's hosting of the forthcoming Commonwealth summit already reeks of fiscal rascality," says commentator Okey Ndibe in the same paper.

Nigeria is wasting billions of naira... so that Obasanjo, a man more and more reviled by ordinary Nigerians, may bask once again in his accustomed, if delusionary, toga of international statesman."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.