Heads of State: Robert Mugabe arrived in Rome yesterday to join fellow heads of state and government at the Pope's funeral, despite the ban on himself and other Zimbabwean leaders travelling to EU countries.
The ban did not apply because his destination was the Vatican, an independent state.
The ban was imposed in 2002 in protest at human rights abuses and past electoral fraud in Zimbabwe. The two-thirds majority Mr Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, won in last week's general election attracted further allegations of rigging.
The Zimbabwe state broadcasting company said that in addition to attending the funeral, Mr Mugabe, a practising Catholic, planned to meet members of the Italian business community.
His visit to Rome was denounced by one of his fiercest critics, the Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, who said: "That man will take advantage of any situation to fly to Europe to publicise himself. He will find any loophole. The man is shameless."