Mr Mbeki explained that the idea was rejected on principle because Britain had no right to decide who leads African countries. “You are coming from London, you don’t like Robert Mugabe for whatever reason - people in London don’t like him - and we are going to remove him and we are going to put someone else in his place? Why does it become British responsibility to decide who leads the people of Zimbabwe?” asked Mr Mbeki. “So we said ‘no, let Zimbabweans sit down, let them talk’.”