SA Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo blocks Zimbabwe discussion
SOUTH AFRICA and China yesterday blocked efforts to include Zimbabwe on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council as the group met yesterday.
Lynn Pascoe, undersecretary-general for political affairs, presented a report handed over to him by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change’s Secretary General Tendai Biti, to the 15-member council.
China, Russia, Libya and Vietnam spoke up against any Security Council discussion and action on Zimbabwe. Burkina Faso said that Africa should take the lead and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) should be given the opportunity to mediate in the Zimbabwe situation.
Diplomats indicated that since South Africa, currently chairing the Security Council, was opposed to discussion on Zimbabwe, the issue will no longer be debated by the Security Council.
Critics say Zimbabwe could be reintroduced when Britain takes over the Security Council’s presidency next week.
Britain and other Western nations have been pushing for the UN to play a greater role in the Zimbabwe situation since Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, raised it at a UN summit on Africa this month.
Yesterday’s closed-door session in New York was pushed by Brown under the UN’s “other business” agenda.
Britain was backed by the US, France and other Western nations. Together they called for the sending of a UN envoy and a moratorium on arms sales to Zimbabwe.
Tendai Biti, the Secretary General of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party held private meetings with key UN members in New York yesterday to press for an envoy to be sent to the country.
Biti traveled to New York to meet Security Council members separately, but South Africa, Russia and China appeared set to avoid him.
Speaking to the media in New York, Biti called for the dispatch of a UN envoy or fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe.
"Zimbabwe is basically a war zone, militias have been deployed in every district," he told reporters. "Systematic violence is being unleashed by the state against the people. In every district, torture camps have been set up."
Zimbabwe's UN Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku dismissed the opposition charges as "bullshit."
US deputy ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said the council failed to find common ground on how to respond.
"The council is divided," he said.
"There are a number of governments who were quite outspoken about the importance of the council remaining engaged ... but there were others who have different views and think that the situation deserves more time and that ultimately it is up for the Zimbabwean people to resolve it themselves," he said.
Biti also attacked President Thabo Mbeki and the 14 nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), saying they “did not have the capacity” to mediate on the Zimbabwean situation.
"The (southern African) region is paralyzed between those who are fighting in the people's corner and those that are fighting for the status quo," he said.
He added that UN involvement would "strengthen those positive elements within SADC (referring to Zambia and Botswana) who have been paralyzed by the defenders of the status quo."
He called South African President Thabo Mbeki "the key defender of the status quo."
South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, the council president this month, took strong exception to those remarks.
"South Africa is a mediator appointed by the (southern African) region (in Zimbabwe)," he said. "We are hosting up to five million Zimbabwean refugees without asking anybody to help us take care of them."
"Zimbabwe is not on the agenda of the Security Council," he stressed.
Kumalo said the only thing that council members "seem to agree with is that the SADC should work with the Zimbabweans, especially the independent electoral commission, to make sure that the results are coming out."
Zimbabwe’s election commission yesterday postponed the verification of the presidential results from last month’s presidential elections, but said presidential candidates will be invited on Thursday for the verification process..
The UN Secretary-General last night called for a speedy announcement of the elections.
“It is just unacceptable that leaders of the Zimbabwe government have not yet released presidential results after four weeks. We know who is the winner,” Ban Ki Moon said.
Ban's comments risked jeopardising any future role for the UN chief in mediating the election stand-off.
