MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pulled out of a meeting with President Paul Kagame on Friday after receiving a petition alleging the Rwandan leader has violated human rights, an ally of Zapatero said.
The two leaders had been scheduled as drivers of the Millennium Development Goals -- a United Nations initiative to erradicate extreme poverty and reduce infant mortality along with other goals by 2015.
"The prime minister yesterday received a petition from various political groups saying that they didn't think it was appropriate for the meeting to take place", Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said on Spanish television.
She said Zapatero had been "sensitive" to the petition and would meet other political parties to explain why he had decided not see Kagame.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos took Zapatero's place at the meeting, which was also attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
