Abuja, Nigeria ? President Robert Mugabe — banned from the meeting and thousands of miles away — still managed to dominate the tense opening session Friday of the summit of Britain and its former colonies, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged African leaders not to lift Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth.

Isolated at home, Mugabe shrugged off the international pressure to reform his troubled southern African country.

“What is it to us?” he said of the 54-nation Commonwealth as he addressed thousands of party loyalists in Zimbabwe. “It is a club. There are other clubs we can join.”

The Commonwealth has barred Zimbabwe from its decision-making councils since 2002, when Mugabe was widely accused of using force and fraud to win re-election.

The West and human rights groups at home charge Zimbabwe’s two-decade leader with silencing his country’s opposition and media, and blame his seizure of white-owned farms for fostering acute food shortages and economic upheaval.

But several African members of the Commonwealth, including Mozambique and Malawi, are campaigning for Zimbabwe’s reinstatement — insisting that dialogue and engagement, not isolation, will encourage change.

Britain — with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and several Pacific nations — insists Mugabe must remain barred from the Commonwealth until the regime embraces democratic principles.

Blocked from their hoped-for quick agreement on Zimbabwe, leaders handed the contentious issue to a six-country committee.

Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, Mozambique and South Africa were charged with having separate talks over the next 24 hours, coming back with recommendations on how to evaluate Zimbabwe’s suspension.

An armed soldier stands guard during a demonstration for President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. British Commonwealth leaders discussed Mugabe's leadership Friday in Nigeria.