DURBAN, Nov 12 (AFP) - Sex and drugs feature prominently among issues pushed by lobbyists at the Commonwealth summit in Durban, where pressure groups are as thick on the ground as politicians.

One glance at the media centre information table in the coastal town is enough to convince anyone that this is an organisation that its members take very seriously.

The documents are hefty in both content and weight.

"Gender and sexual violence against women causes as much death and incapacity as cancer -- and more ill-health than malaria and traffic accidents," says the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

"Violence against women usually occurs in a sexual context and is linked to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion."

But alongside such serious issues, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been a source of light relief for journalists with his attacks on the British government as a bunch of "gay gangsters".

His startling accusation resulted from an incident during a visit to London recently when gay activists pounced on his car as he left his hotel and tried to effect a citizens arrest on the grounds of his homophobia and misrule.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told a news conference he was not aware that Blair would go out of his way to patch things up with Mugabe during a weekend retreat, "but it is highly likely they will bump into each other."

Drugs are a problem even Britain's Queen Elizabeth II referred to in her opening speech, along with environmental destruction.

But one group, Soroptimist International, was more concerned about "the influence of multinational corporations and international financial institutions upon the traditions and cultures of people."

Another, Comnet-IT, wants to "heighten awareness amonst Commonwealth leaders of the crucial implications that information technology holds for development."

The Commonwealth Lawyers Association seeks "judicial and parliamentary accountability", while the Commonwealth Medical Association Trust calls for a "global state of crisis" to be declared over AIDS.

Other issues pressed by lobbyists included the charity Oxfam's exhortation to leaders to "make the Commonwealth meaningful for its children -- get them into school", and "local initiatives in developing the habitat agenda in India."

One of the strangest, perhaps, is a statement calling for the "public destruction of guns", which features speeches by South African defence and police officials.

Of course, with security tight at the conference centre, there are more guns -- wielded by soldiers and policemen -- than there are gin and tonics in the adjoining Hilton Hotel.

991112
AF991116

Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 1999 - AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, that no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics.  http://www.afp.com/