South Africa's Mbeki rejects EU demand on Zimbabwe govt

South Africa's Mbeki rejects EU demand on Zimbabwe govt

by Aderogba Obisesan,

01/07/08

South African President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday rejected an EU position that it will only accept a Zimbabwean government led by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. "The result that comes out of that process of dialogue must be a result that is agreed by the Zimbabweans," said Mbeki on SA FM radio after an African Union summit in Egypt attended by Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe."And certainly, the African continent has not made any prescriptions about the outcomes of what Zimbabweans must negotiate among themselves." Mbeki added: "That surely must mean that when the Zimbabweans say that we have all met, discussed and negotiated and this is what we have agreed to take our country, Zimbabwe forward."

African leaders on Tuesday, in their final resolution after their summit in Egypt, called for dialogue between Zimbabwe's political foes and a national unity government following Mugabe 's widely discredited reelection. Their two-day conclave agreed "to encourage President Robert Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai to initiate dialogue with a view to promoting peace, stability".Mugabe was present when the resolution was adopted, and raised no objections.

The European Union said Tuesday that it will only accept a Zimbabwe government led by Tsvangirai , who overtook Mugabe -- the country's leader since independence -- in the first round of presidential poll held in March. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said as Europe prepared to step up sanctions against Mugabe that the European Union will only accept a government led by the opposition leader. The European Union, on the first day of France's rotating presidency, took a tough stance on Mugabe, with Kouchner telling France 2 public television that Brussels "will not accept a government other than one led by Mr Tsvangirai".

"The French presidency, along with the (European) Commission, is clear: the government is illegitimate if it isn't led by opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai," Kouchner stated. Tsvangirai, who failed to win an absolute majority in that poll, withdrew from the second round of voting, held last Friday, saying that violence had made a fair vote impossible. Mugabe, 84, who was the sole candidate in that exercise, was declared winner, and was hastily sworn in for another five-year term. The opposition claims more than 80 of its supporters had been killed in a campaign of intimidation ahead of the vote and thousands injured.

With South Africa the most influentual country in southern Africa, the regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC) has appointed Mbeki mediator in the crisis. "So we are fully supportive of the cooperation and dialogue among political parties to find a solution to the challenges they face," Mbeki said Wednesday. "And that is why they came to the conclusion that the only way forward out of this was to get Zimbabweans, to encourage Zimbabweans to engage and indeed produce an inclusive government. "Everybody is convinced that it is only via the instrument of an inclusive government that includes all of these political parties of Zimbabwe within a framework that they themselves would agree...this is the only way that you can take Zimbabwe forward," said Mbeki. African Union Commission President Jean Ping called Tuesday on the international community, which has led criticism of the election, not to interfere too much in the Zimbabwe crisis.

http://www.herald. co.zw/inside. aspx?sectid= 143&cat=1

African states reject US sanctions call

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Herald Reporter

AFRICAN leaders attending the Group of Eight Summit in Japan yesterday vehemently resisted Western-led pressure to support an American draft resolution to have the United Nations slap Zimbabwe with sanctions, as British Foreign Secretary David Miliband stage-managed a visit to the so-called refugee camps in South Africa to ratchet up anti-Zimbabwe pressure.

The seven-country- strong African contingent, led by African Union chairman President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, yesterday snubbed the coercive tactics of the United States and instead emphasised the need for dialogue. Leaders from Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa joined Tanzania in telling the G8 that sanctions would not help Zimbabwe in any way. The G8 is a grouping of the world’s most industrialised nations. President Kikwete was quoted by online publications as saying while he recognised America’s concerns over Zimbabwe’s recent presidential run-off, he did not subscribe to the notion that sanctions were helpful. "The only area we may disagree on is the way forward," he said after a meeting with US President George W. Bush. It is believed that South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki took the lead in condemning sanctions as a solution to Zimbabwe’s challenges. America admitted it failed to get support from the African countries.

 At a Press briefing, US Deputy National Security Advisor Dan Price told the American media in Washington that Bush had failed to convince Africa that sanctions were the right way forward. "There were differences. Not all leaders are there yet. Not all leaders are in a position to support sanctions at this time," Price said. Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kazuo Kodama was also quoted as saying: "African leaders didn’t ask the G8 to do anything specific." He said the African heads of state had indicated that "sanctions may lead to internal conflict in Zimbabwe". Indications yesterday were that the G8 itself was not united in the call for sanctions with Japan not interested in such a route and Russia — which can veto any sanctions proposal at the UN Security Council — also not supportive of the idea. Last week, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United Nations said most Security Council members were waiting for the AU to give them a cue on how to engage Zimbabwe.

The recent AU Summit in Egypt resolved that dialogue, as called for by President Mugabe, was the best way forward. Yesterday, the Government slammed British Foreign Secretary Miliband for visiting the so-called Zimbabwean refugee camps in South Africa, saying the move was calculated to coincide with the G8 summit that opened in Japan yesterday. Miliband, said the Government, was stage-managing events to ratchet up anti-Zimbabwe sentiments for the G8 summit. In a statement yesterday, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, warned Miliband "to stop his mischief". "Yesterday’s (Sunday) so-called visit to Zimbabwean refugee camps in South Africa by British Foreign Secretary Mr David Miliband is a malignant political lie tailored to coincide with the opening of the G8 Summit in Japan today," Cde Khaya Moyo said.

He said there are no refugee camps in South Africa but centres for foreign nationals displaced during xenophobic attacks that rocked that country recently. "Mr Miliband must stop his mischief and attend to numerous problems affecting his disintegrating Labour Party in the United Kingdom," he said. Cde Khaya Moyo reminded Miliband that Zimbabwe was no longer a British colony. "He has no business to come to South Africa and lecture on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe long ceased to be a British colony and shall never be again." Cde Khaya Moyo said Britain should allow South African President Thabo Mbeki to execute his mediation in Zimbabwe as mandated by Sadc and recently by the AU without interference. According to reports from South Africa, Miliband arrived in that country on Sunday and visited about 2 000 so-called refugees. He was quoted as saying it was imperative for a political solution to be found in Zimbabwe. Miliband urged the international community to support the US-proposed sanctions against the country at a UN Security Council meeting to
be held in New York. He pledged his country’s support to isolating President Mugabe and his Government.

http://allafrica. com/stories/ 200807090679. html

Zimbabwe: Russia Opposes U.S.-Led Sanctions Drive

allAfrica.com
9 July 2008

Russia is opposing efforts by the United States to get the United Nations Security Council to impose targeted sanctions against Zimbabwean leaders responsible for political violence. Although the leaders of the industrial world – including Russia – issued a statement in Japan on Tuesday calling for “financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for violence,” the Russian permanent representative at the UN, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters in New York that “the statement… does not refer to the Security Council.”

The United States has characterized the situation in Zimbabwe as a threat to peace which justifies the imposition of sanctions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which empowers the council to take steps to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. permanent representative, told journalists in New York Tuesday that "even those" who opposed sanctions "say that the situation... has destabilized the region.""A quarter of the population of Zimbabwe are now in the neighboring countries," Khalilzad added. "There is more violence to come - which people anticipate if the circumstances are not resolved... There will be more people leaving Zimbabwe to come to the neighboring states. That affects the stability of the neighboring states. You already have seen incidents in South Africa and other places..."

But Churkin said Russia had “serious questions” as to whether the Zimbabwean situation constituted enough of a threat to peace and security to justify Chapter VII measures. He said some elements of the U.S. draft resolution before the Security Council were “quite excessive, in fact incongruous and clearly in conflict with the notion of the sovereignty of a member state of the UN.”

Churkin declined to say whether Russia would veto the resolution – “veto is a very big word” – but backed the South African representative, Dumisani Kumalo, who told journalists: “We share the frustration of everybody but we are saying don't take measures that are going to complicate the situation and literally blow the country apart.”

Khalilzad suggested there was enough support on the UN Security Council to secure passage of a sanctions resolution this week, provided Russia did not veto it. A resolution needs the support of nine of the 15 members of the council, including permanent members with veto rights, of which Russia is one. Khalilzad said: "We believe absent a veto - which we do not anticipate, but you can’t rule it out... the votes are there to move forward." He told reporters there was "broad agreement... that the Council cannot be indifferent to what has happened, that action is required." But, he added, "there are differences of view on exactly what should be done. There are some who argue that only political pressure is needed.

“We are of the view that we have been there and done that and have failed to get results... What we have proposed... is very tailored, very focused sanctions, an arms embargo, and targeted sanctions on individuals in whose hands it is to allow a process to start that can produce results."

Khalilzad asserted that Tuesday's G8 Summit statement on Zimbabwe "has provided the support needed for us here to move. We were going to move in any case. Our... draft resolution predates the G8 statement but we see in the statement support for us to continue the course that we were on."