SOUTH AFRICA / USA: Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai calls on the regional organisation SADC to lead a new mediation effort in his country

Record ID: 453810

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA / USA: Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai calls on the regional organisation SADC to lead a new mediation effort in his country
  • Date: 18th April 2008
  • Summary: (BN13) WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 17, 2008) (POOL) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE SAYING: "Now, I am -- we're very concerned by these statements about, quote, "treason of the opposition," and so forth. This was, by all accounts, an election. They need to release those -- the results of that election. The longer they hold the results of the election, the more suspicion grows that something is being plotted and planned by the ruling party. And, frankly, the United States and the European Union and others have spoken out about this and we've made calls, but it's time for Africa to step up. Where is the concern for the -- from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbors about what is going on in Zimbabwe? "
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA861KBTZJQZ3ZZZGH7JYXMBWP3
  • Story Text: Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday (April 17) he had called on the regional organisation SADC to lead a new mediation effort in his country.
    After saying South African President Thabo Mbeki should be removed as a mediator, Tsvangirai said he had asked Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa to launch a new initiative. Mwanawasa is chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

    "President Mbeki needs to be relieved from his duty,"
    Tsvangirai told a news conference in Johannesburg.
    After saying South African President Thabo Mbeki should be removed as a mediator, Tsvangirai said he had asked Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa to launch a new initiative.

    "However we have asked President Mwanawasa to lead a new initiative, to urgently deal with the extra ordinary situation we face this moment, we cannot wait another day, we cannot wait another week, we need a special envoy or a special committee, or a delegation to come to Zimbabwe immediately and deal with the issue" he added Mbeki last year led an unsuccessful mediation mission by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and has played down the gravity of a deadlock following an election on March 29.
    African reaction has been subdued to events in Zimbabwe, where a 19-day delay in issuing results of a presidential poll has fuelled fears of violence, although regional leaders called last weekend for the outcome to be announced quickly.
    The continent has largely taken its cue from Mbeki, who has been fiercely criticised for insisting on a softly softly diplomatic approach to President Robert Mugabe, despite the catastrophic collapse of Zimbabwe's economy.
    Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), suggested there may need to be a special United Nations tribunal to judge crimes committed in Zimbabwe.

    "We are actually considering that the United Nations must actually consider setting up an international crimes court, eh, just like they set up one in Sierra leone, in DRC and all that, because, I think the current wave of violence against the people must stop, and the only way to stop, is that those who are committing those crimes, they must know that they will be answerable one day". he said.
    Tsvangirai expressed concern at news of a Chinese ship which police said contains arms destined for Zimbabwe being cleared to dock and unload its cargo at a South African port.
    The ship's arrival in South Africa came amid fears that violence could erupt in Zimbabwe if the political stalemate over the March 29 elections remained unresolved.
    Election officials in Zimbabwe have refused to release the results of the presidential election despite intense pressure to do so by the international community and the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party in Zimbabwe.
    MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has declared victory in both the presidential and parliamentary elections and demanded that President Robert Mugabe step down and hand over power.
    Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has said he is preparing for a second ballot run-off. His ruling ZANU-PF party also is challenging some of the parliamentary poll results, which showed it losing its majority for the first time.
    China is among the nations that have good relations with Mugabe, who is seen as a pariah in much of the West.
    Critics accuse Mugabe of suppressing political dissent, violating human rights and mismanaging the African nation's economy. Mugabe says the economy has been sabotaged by Western states as punishment for his land reform.
    In the United States, U.S. Secretary of States Condoleezza Rica said on Thursday (April 17) that she was concerned about the delay in the publication of Zimbabwe's election results.

    "The longer they hold the results of the election, the more suspicion grows that something is being plotted and planned by the ruling party," she said.
    She said the United States and the European Union "and others" had voiced their disapproval of the delay in publishing the results of the poll, but now it was up to "Africa to step up."

    "Where is the concern for the -- from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbors about what is going on in Zimbabwe?" she asked.
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