Harare, Zimbabwe - The largest global tourism summit organized by the United Nations ends with officials defending Zimbabwe's role as co-host after years of abuses of human and democratic rights in the southern African nation.
The 180-member United Nations World Tourism Organization said Thursday it re-elected Taleb Rifai of Jordan for a second four-year term as its secretary general at the end of the summit in the Zambian town of Livingstone, across the border from Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls resort.
Rifai earlier brushed aside criticism the six-day meeting gave legitimacy to President Robert Mugabe's government in the aftermath of disputed presidential elections on July 31.
He said the summit gave Zimbabweans optimism and was not an opportunity to discuss what he called “grand issues.”
Sapa-AP