A controversial visit to Paris by Robert Mugabe is likely to get the go ahead today, prompting anger from the Conservative Party.

European Union officials are meeting to decide on a fresh travel ban for the Zimbabwe president and his closest allies, rolling over existing sanctions which are set to expire on February 18.

France has warned it will not support an extension unless Mugabe's visit to the summit on February 19 gets the green light.

"If the price of securing the roll-over is allowing this three-day gap for Mugabe to visit the French then this is what we reluctantly may have to do," one Brussels source told ePolitix.com.

At a meeting of the British and French leaders on Tuesday, disputes over Zimbabwe continued.

The official statement issued after the summit said only that "Britain and France have continued their discussions on the different ways to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe".

That move was branded "shameful" by Michael Ancram.

"This is disgraceful abdication of responsibility by the prime minister. In one fell swoop he has betrayed the Zimbabwean people and weakened the EU's stand on human rights," said the shadow foreign secretary.

"Mugabe is now free to enter Paris on February 19 with the acquiescence of the British government. This is shameful and exposes Blair's supposed ethical foreign policy as the myth it is."

Previous European visits by Zimbabwean or Zanu PF officials have triggered bitter rows, but the go-ahead has been given for meetings with international organisations like the UN.

The top-level diplomatic negotiations come as worldwide criticism mounts of Harare's human rights record.

The trial of Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has led to renewed criticism of Mugabe's regime.

The decision also coincides with press reports that Tony Blair privately agreed that the Mugabe visit could go ahead when he spoke with Chirac at the Copenhagen summit in December.

The UK government has insisted that there was no deal, and that the final decision is in any case a matter for all 15 EU governments.

President Chirac is said to believe that it is better to engage with Zimbabwe that shut the regime out in the cold.

But that position has brought accusations that France is undermining a common EU position.

"What is the point of sanctions if exceptions are allowed which destroy their impact?" asked Geoffrey Van Orden, the Conservative spokesman on human rights in the European parliament.

"We should be using every possible means to increase the effectiveness of EU measures and to persuade southern African governments to join us in isolating Mugabe to bring about change.

"They will now get the message that the EU is not really very concerned about Mugabe, or about good governance and human rights in Africa, and that it is alright to continue feting him," he warned.

Despite agreeing to the Paris visit the 15 ambassadors are expected to back the renewal of sanctions and may scrap an EU-Africa summit scheduled to go ahead in Lisbon in April.