The partial suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth announced yesterday is plainly a painstaking compromise. The troika of John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa and Olesungo Obasanjo, the Nigerian President, have pushed Zimbabwe out of the formal councils of the Commonwealth -- which is not the same as formal and full suspension -- and this provision will apply for 12 months before the situation in the country is reassessed and the future status of Zimbabwe reconsidered. This is not exactly the result that intimidation and fraud deserves but it is not an insignificant outcome either. Mr Howard must have deployed considerable diplomatic skill to persuade his reluctant colleagues to go this far.