UNITED STATES Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has softened her rhetoric on Zimbabwe and called on African leaders and former UN chief Kofi Annan to help find a solution to resolve the crisis in the country.
Rice spoke to the President of Botswana Ian Khama, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and urged them to assist in finding a solution to the situation in the country, according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
McComark said Rice and her African envoy Jendayi Frazer have decided "to get a sense from leaders in the region who really have some deep insights into the situation and how it might go forward, as to what the situation is, how they saw it, and how they were thinking about (how) it might move forward," McCormack told reporters.
McComark was asked why the US State Department was making more calls today about the situation in Zimbabwe than in the previous few weeks.
Asked a reporter: “Why this sudden flurry of calls on Zimbabwe? Does it have to do with President Mbeki’s visit and if it does, why didn’t she call him?”
McComark replied: “Well, there’s — we’re in touch with the South Africans, but we’re – I know that there is quite a bit of activity and a lot of discussion among the SADC countries, as well as within Zimbabwe, about how — how to move forward, what are the appropriate next steps.”
He said it was up to the opposition MDC-T to come to “some understanding of how they would like to proceed. There are a variety of different options out there, but fundamentally, they’re going to have to decide. Whatever the decision is about how to move forward, it’s going to need the support and encouragement of neighbouring countries, SADC countries, as well as others in the international system, us and other interested parties, the U.K. – you can go down the – you can go down the list.”
With regards to the violence in the country, McComark said, “violence serves nobody's purposes. So it's going to fundamentally going to be up to the … opposition to take a look at what are the best options for moving the political process forward.”
It was also important for Rice to talk to Annan, "who plays an important role in the international system, but particularly on issues related to Africa," he added.
But the spokesman did not say why Rice did not speak with South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was in Harare for intensive talks with President Robert Mugabe.
"I don't have any particular reason," McCormack said.
Rice has always supported the opposition MDC-T calls for a change of mediator and called for Sadc to "step up" to help the situation in Zimbabwe.
She said, back in April, "So I think that those who are making this criticism of the role played by President Mbeki, I think, are justified."
Yesterday's statement is a departure from the usual hardline stance she has taken on the Southern African country.
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READER OPINIONS
Roderick • Herts. Subject: ITS A CULTURAL THING. SHE HAS NO IDEA. Sun, 11 May 2008 21:51:40 • FREE Zimbabweans will decide their own destinies.
Free Zimbabweans will not surrender to the African slaves/servants... huh? Excuse me?
Which of us Zimbabweans are FREE right now? None of us are in a position to make any decisions.
Between struggling to survive as economical refugees overseas now having to wash butts, change old people nappies and spoon-feeding old white colonials, or like other living in Zimbabwe where we are subjected to sanctions and fuel restrictions by our own kind in Botswana, we are all in bondage.
There is a new kind of slavery now with newly designed shackles and chains, but you cant see them. Slavery is not dead. We are all still slaves and servants and none of us are FREE to make any decisions.
Rice is intent padding out her own future. All she wants is to be the first black female president of the USA. Trust me this is what she is focused on. Forget about counting on her to help ZW find peace. If she couldnt help New Orleans how do you think she can help ZW? mWe have to do it OURSELVES!
Nova, Edinburgh • na. Subject: RICE.. SOON TO BE PRICELESS Sun, 11 May 2008 21:33:23 • Rice has already increased in price by 30% after Burma's floods.
Imagine, all your life you grow up wishing you could have been born with any other surname rather than a boring old name like Rice when suddenly you wake up one morning to discover you could soon be the most valuable commodity on earth!
Like that broadband advert says UNREAL!
Omugabe • dziva@sanandresano.com Subject: Africa for Africans -- LOOK INWARD & 'LOOK EAST' ZIM PATRIOTS Sat, 10 May 2008 16:44:51 • Zambia and Botswana need to decide whether they are going to be of Africa or of the historical enemies of Africans.
FREE Zimbabweans will decide their own destinies.
Free Zimbabweans will not surrender to the African slaves/servants who serve the evil Europeans that are intent on dominating Africans and dictate to Africans.
Where was the likes of Rice and Frazer when their fellow Black Americans were drowning like rats in the filthy sewer waters of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina?
All Rice could do then was to cry, even though the racist leader that Rice and Frazer worship had an overabundance of national resources at his command to save those Black Americans.
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