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AU divided over Zimbabwe
Rift appears over approach to president's re-election on one-man vote.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:08 July 2, 2008
- George Chiramba, spokesperson for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, talks to the media at the African Union summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm Al Shaikh.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt: An African Union summit on Tuesday tried to overcome divisions on how to deal with the re-election of President Robert Mugabe in a poll condemned around the world.
Summit sources said the leaders were divided between those who wanted a strong statement about Zimbabwe and others who were reluctant to publicly censure the veteran leader, who extended his 28-year rule in a one-candidate election on June 27.
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, a member of the West and East African group most critical of Mugabe told BBC radio: "The people of Zimbabwe have been denied their democratic rights. We should, in no uncertain terms, condemn what has happened."
Koroma said the southern African group must engage Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who withdrew from the ballot because of attacks on his supporters, in talks leading to a transitional government and fresh elections.
But Mugabe spokesman George Charamba rejected the idea of the Kenya-style power-sharing solution floated by several summit leaders to end a crisis that has saddled Zimbabwe with the world's worst hyper-inflation and strained neighbouring states with millions of refugees.
"Kenya is Kenya. Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe. We have our own history of evolving dialogue and resolving political impasses the Zimbabwean way. The Zimbabwean way, not the Kenyan way. Not at all," Charamba said.
Mugabe threatened before the summit to confront his critics and suggested he would point back at leaders who themselves were in power undemocratically.
A South African newspaper said President Thabo Mbeki, the designated regional negotiator in Zimbabwe was close to brokering a deal that would have Mugabe and Tsvangirai negotiate a unity government.
The issue of who would lead such a government remains a possibly insuperable stumbling block, although both sides say they are ready for talks. Mbeki spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga refused to comment on the report.
Dispute
Rival's stand hardens
Zimbabwe's opposition took a hard line yesterday on possible negotiations with President Robert Mugabe's government, saying Mugabe had closed the door by going ahead with a sham election.
Humanitarian agencies, meanwhile, warned that millions were at risk of hunger in Zimbabwe if the government failed to lift its ban on aid agencies. The government had accused independent aid groups of supporting the opposition, charges the groups denied.
Ever since the June 5 ban, aid groups say the government has given food primarily to Mugabe supporters. In a statement yesterday from Harare, Tendai Biti, a top leader of the Zimbabwean opposition's Movement for Democratic Change, dismissed speculation his party and Mugabe's ZANU-PF were about to begin talks.
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