Nairobi:  Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga today called for the suspension of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe from the African Union until he allows a "free and fair" election.

"Mugabe should be suspended until he allows the AU to facilitate free and fair elections," Odinga told a press conference in Nairobi after talks with US Senator for Florida Bill Nelson.

"AU will be setting a dangerous precedent if Mugabe is allowed to participate in its meetings," Odinga said in a fresh salvo against Africa s oldest leader.

Mugabe, 84,who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980,was sworn in yesterday for a sixth term after he was declared winner of a run-off election boycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

African Union observers condemned the election as undemocratic as Mugabe arrived at an AU summit in Egypt, where Zimbabwe s crisis the crisis bedevilling the southern African nation was the focus of discussion.

Critics have held him responsible for the worsening security and economic meltdown in his southern African nation, but Mugabe has defiantly blamed it on the West, notably Britain, Australia and United States, for imposing sanctions.

Mugabe came second to Tsvangirai in the first round of voting in March but his opponent subsequently withdrew from the run-off, citing violence and intimidation against his supporters.

Odinga, one of Africa s most vocal critics of the Zimbabwean leader, spoke in Nairobi, while Kenya was being represented by President Mwai Kibaki at the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Source : PTI