JOHANNESBURG, Nov 10 (AFP) - Host South Africa will press regional issues such as poverty and debt relief at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which opens in Durban on Friday.

President Thabo Mbeki said Tuesday that particularly as the summit was taking place in "the poorest continent", "we have to create conditions, policies and programmes conducive to investment, growth and job creation."

Addressing business and political leaders at a Commonwealth Business Forum here, he said governments and business must combine to spark "larger inflows of foreign direct investment, certainly into the African Continent."

Critical issues for the Commonwealth included "our international debt burden, a more equitable global trading system, the attraction of larger volumes of long-term capital to the countries of the South and increasing the flows and effectiveness of development assistance."

Mbeki, mandated in September by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to press the issue of African debt relief, will lead lobbying efforts in Durban.

While Pakistan's empty chair -- it was suspended last month following a military coup -- is expected to dominate much of the agenda at CHOGM, southern African countries will not escape the notice of democratic watchdogs.

Three African members of the Commonwealth -- Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya -- face possible censure from the body over alleged human rights abuses, following recommendations in a report published this week.

The three African states and Sri Lanka were named in the report by the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), an independent London-based think-tank whose patrons include British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mulenge dismissed the reports Tuesday. "This is ridiculous and utter rubbish," Mulenge said in a statement released in Harare.

The report said the Commonwealth should set up an "at risk" register to protect weak democracies and ensure members take action on issues like fair elections in Zambia, free association in Zimbabwe, minority rights in Kenya and press freedom in Sri Lanka.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has already sparked a clash with Britain with a furious reaction to a gay rights protest during a recent visit to London.

Over the weekend, the 75-year-old Mugabe, known for his verbal onslaughts against homosexuality, accused Blair of using "gangster gays" to target him for political reasons.

Mugabe linked the protest to a dispute with London over financing the funding of agricultural reforms in post-independence Zimbabwe.

Southern African states, whose economies are among the worst hit by the AIDS virus, will throw their support behind calls to be made at the summit for HIV/AIDS to be declared a global emergency.

A resolution by Commonwealth health ministers, to be presented to the summit, calls for greater emphasis on research into the prevention of the disease and the development of an anti-AIDS vaccine.

South Africa will also use the gathering to lobby the support of world leaders in its campaign to host the soccer World Cup in 2006.

"It is Africa's turn to stage this competition and we are best placed to win this bid," the head of its World Cup bid committee Danny Jordaan said.

The biennial Commonwealth summit is the world's biggest intergovernmental conference outside the United Nations, with 53 countries represented following Pakistan's suspension.

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