THE African Union summit ended in Egypt yesterday with no condemnation of President Mugabe as expected by critics of the Zimbabwean government, but with a call by the regional body for the establishment of a national unity government in Zimbabwe.
The AU’s final resolution, not very different from a pre-summit resolution, fell short of the full demands called for by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party.
The two parties yesterday indicated that any prospect of power-sharing talks had been dashed.
Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the MDC-T said any hopes of a government of national unity had been dashed by the June 27 presidential run-off election which saw President Robert Mugabe winning a landslide victory.
Western critics have called for President Mugabe to be replaced by the opposition MDC-T’s leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. They have also called for further sanctions on the country.
Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, said at the summit that President Mugabe must not be part of any future power-sharing deal between the two main parties.
He said this was a condition for any future aid to flow into the country.
The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner said that the EU would only accept a Zimbabwean government that was headed by Tsvangirai.
The AU remained divided over Zimbabwe, but were all in agreement that a GNU should be considered.
Sources from Egypt claimed that Nigeria and Senegal wanted any power-sharing deal to be based on the results of Zimbabwe’s first-round election. The Botswana delegation called for Zimbabwe to be kicked out of the AU.
President Mugabe returned home last night.
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godfrey madzivire • gmadzivire@gmail.com Subject: gnu Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:51:27 • these guys morgan and robert are parallel lines. robert says morgan is the puppet of the west, while morgan says robert has messed up the economy and should go. robert blames morgan for the sanctions and the economy. but the bottom line is these guys should put their diffrences together for the betterment of the country because non of them is suffering but the ordinary men. mugabe should know that land distribution being a noble idea, he should tell his cronies who took the land with crocket means to produce food for the country. sanctions can affect to some extent but not to the extent of not having chibage kuGMB. machida garai pai mugadzirise nyika its almost a decade tichitamba nhamo . i know power is sweet, but can you enjoy vamwe vachidya nhoko dzezvironda here. we leaders not rulers in africa.
Dzvinyangoma • n/a Subject: It's confirmed Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:36:40 • What gives the UK and France to declare that they will only recognise a Zimbabwe government led by Tsvangirai? People said Mugabe was halucinating when he said Tsvangirai was a front for the west. Now the west has confirmed that their pet should be a figuredhead for them in any future so called government of Zimbabwe. Where else have you heard another country saying they will only accept a particular leader for another sovereign state? Yet people claim that colonialism is in the past and we get declarations like this from 'former' colonial masters. Tsvangirai has been exposed for what he is.
Tapiwa • tsikom2000@yahoo.com Subject: AFRICAN LEADERS ARE A SHAME Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:19:48 • Its always been a wonder, why africa with all the resources still needs aid to sustain itself. We need not to look further, our African Leaders leave a lot to be desired. Look at the Zim situation, they had a chance to make a difference , but where it mattered most they faltered. They choice loyalties more than facts on the ground. By keeping mum and adopting a middle of the road approach they juss showed us , that we as Africa we are not yet ready to stand and be counted as decision makers on our on right.
N/a • N/A Subject: GNU Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:21:47 • Does a proposition for a unity government when someone has just been declared a winner not constitute a condemnation?
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