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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 5966269" data-attributes="member: 92282">British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has vowed to block Sri Lanka's bid to host the next summit of Commonwealth leaders, in retaliation for the Colombo government's handling of its military campaign against the Tamil Tigers earlier this year.The choice of venue for the 2011 meeting is one of the key decisions to be taken at this weekend's 60th anniversary Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago, and until the Prime Minister's intervention Sri Lanka was believed to be in pole position.Mr Brown was one of many world leaders who called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to halt the violence with Tamil militias to allow civilians to escape the war zone and reach humanitarian aid.UN estimates at the time put the civilian death toll at at least 7,000, and 150,000 displaced people are still living in closed camps. As he flew to Trinidad's capital, Port of Spain, for the CHOGM summit, Mr Brown made clear that a consequence of Mr Rajapaksa's conduct of the offensive was that Britain will not back the Sri Lankan bid to be hosts in 2011.Sri Lanka launched its bid in 2007 and until this year was thought the most likely candidate to scoop the prestigious role, which would see the country become the focus of world attention as 53 heads of government from four continents, representing almost a third of the population of the globe, gather for a weekend of discussions in the presence of the Queen.A Downing Street source said: "The Prime Minister has real concerns about Sri Lanka's bid. We simply cannot be in a position where Sri Lanka - whose actions earlier this year had a huge impact on civilians, leading to thousands of displaced people without proper humanitarian access - is seen to be rewarded for its actions."Meanwhile, Mr Brown said this weekend's summit will act as an "important springboard" to an international deal on global warming.Climate change will dominate the event, which comes just 10 days before the United Nations-sponsored Copenhagen conference to thrash out plans to halt global warming.US President Barack Obama gave Copenhagen a boost this week by announcing he will attend and promising cuts in America's CO2 emissions, and Mr Brown believes the Commonwealth can add further momentum by uniting behind the need for an agreement to limit the increase in average global temperatures to 2C.Also high on the agenda will be moves to re-admit Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth, which it is believed could come as early as 2011 if reforms are implemented.<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jCSFV445BwQsxKIt6UmsBjqQUY6Q" target="_blank">UK Press Association</a></blockquote>

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