Jul 22, 2008, 10:06 GMT
Madrid - Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang has cancelled a visit to Spain after King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero declined to meet with him, the daily El Pais reported Tuesday.
The president of the tiny oil-rich central African country, a former Spanish colony, had planned to visit Spain on Friday on the occasion of the World Expo held in the northern city of Zaragoza, where Equatorial Guinea is among the participants.
The king and Zapatero, however, declined to meet Obiang on the grounds that their agendas were too full, according to the daily.
The Zapatero government came under criticism following a 2006 visit to Spain by Obiang, whose regime has been accused of human rights violations.
The government was accused of receiving Obiang out of interest for Equatorial Guinea's oil resources, which have turned the country of half a million residents into one of Africa's biggest oil producers.
In May, Obiang won elections with such an overwhelming majority that the opposition only took one seat in the 100-member parliament, raising doubts about the transparency of the electoral process, according to El Pais.
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