Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe did not show up for a scheduled luncheon address at the Global Peace Forum initiated by his staunch ally Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur today.

Although the organisers were tightlipped over the eleventh-hour cancellation, it is believed the Mugabe's decision was due to unhappiness from some participants on his presence.

One of the invited speakers, prominent anti-nuclear activist Dr Helen Caldicott ( left ) told malaysiakini that she was "very disturbed" on the long-time African leader's presence at the peace forum.

"In fact, some went to speak to Tun Mahathir about that (Mugabe's presence) and, you know, he didn't come today," Caldicott said when met at the sidelines of the forum.

Another speaker, writer Pratap Chatterjee said Mugabe's name was not on the programme's list of speakers that he had received earlier, which lead to concern whether the latter was officially invited.

The forum's organisers had thus far made no mention on the presence of Mugabe after he made a surprise appearance at the opening ceremony yesterday and was arranged to sit next to Mahathir.

Anti-West rhetoric

Mugabe's 25-minutes luncheon address was initially scheduled to be moderated by Mahathir's special assistant, Matthias Chang.

Chang, and the forum's event manager Asli chief executive officer Dr Michael Yeoh, when contacted both refused to elaborate on the cancellation.

Mahathir, who retired in 2003 after 22 years in power, and Mugabe shared a love of anti-Western rhetoric stoked by a history of British colonialism in both countries.

But while Mahathir steered the country's economic backwaters to the mainstream of Asian development, Zimbabwe's economy is in the worst crisis of its history.

A political row erupted in Malaysia last year following Mugabe's revelations that Mahathir had given him wall-paneling timber valued at RM100,000 (US$26,000) for a 25-bedroom mansion he was building near the Zimbabwe's capital Harare.

Opposition leaders and rights groups expressed outrage at the gift to Mugabe, who is accused of rigging elections to stay in power and leading to humanitarian crises in his country.

Anwar concern

Meanwhile, Caldicott and Chatterjee were asked to comment on their acceptance of the their invitations by Mahathir, who also has been criticised for his human rights record domestically.

"He might be (criticised on human rights), I don't know a lot about that though I did follow the Anwar (Ibrahim, sacked ex-deputy premier) story and I am concerned about that.

"But I find (Mahathir) a very interesting and a compassionate man. He is a colleague because he is a doctor (too), so I find that it very conducive working together and I am very impressed by him," said Caldicott, who is the founder of the US-based Nuclear Policy Research Institute.

She also stressed that she was supportive of the ex-premier's proposal to set up a permanent secretariat to promote peace and was interested to be part of the group should she is invited.

Chatterjee ( left ), the author of Iraq Inc: A Profitable Occupation who lived in Malaysia briefly a decade ago, said although he was aware of the "controversial" role of Mahathir and Mugabe in their countries respectively, he nevertheless interested to hear their points of view.

"To me, is interesting to hear what Mahathir has to say and understand from his perspective what he did. Mugabe is extremely controversial [...] in the West, he is seemed as the murderer, but it is interesting to see what kind of person is this who has such a bad reputation," he said.

The three-day forum ending tomorrow, organised by Mahathir's Perdana Leadership Foundation, is being attended by 2,000 participants from 25 countries.