Mugabe seeks credibility at African summit
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe joined an African summit today looking for some political legitimacy after his presidential re-election was condemned around the world.
Fellow African leaders appeared unlikely to strongly criticise him, hoping to quietly find a resolution to the crisis.
The African Union summit got under way in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh a day after Mugabe was sworn in as president for a sixth term after a widely discredited run-off in which he was the only candidate.
His main rival Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed the inauguration as “an exercise in self-delusion”, and many world leaders have called the run-off a sham.
Although Zimbabwe was expected to be one of the main focuses of the AU summit, African leaders were not expected to publicly denounce Mugabe and instead gently urge him to engage in some sort of power-sharing agreement.
A draft resolution written by AU foreign ministers during two days of talks before the summit did not criticise the run-off election or Mugabe. The draft condemned violence in general terms and called for dialogue.
But harsher words came from UN deputy secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro who called the situation an “extremely grave crisis”.
“This the single greatest challenge ... in southern Africa, not only because its terrible humanitarian consequences but also because of the dangerous political precedent it sets,” she told delegates during an opening address.
Mugabe has threatened to point fingers at African leaders if they speak out against him. The Zimbabwe government newspaper The Herald reported today that Mugabe “was prepared to face any of his AU counterparts disparaging Zimbabwe’s electoral conduct because some of their countries had (a) worse elections record.”
African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping told delegates that Africans should “shoulder the responsibility” of helping Zimbabwe – but he did not criticise Mugabe or speak harshly about the crisis.
Africans should “do everything in its power to help the Zimbabwe parties to work together in the supreme interests in their country so as to overcome its current challenges,” he said.
Most African governments – including regional powerhouse South Africa – have been reluctant to criticise Mugabe, whether because of long-standing ties to the Zimbabwean leader or because they do not want to be seen as backing the West against a fellow African.
Electoral officials said yesterday that Mugabe won 85% of the vote in Friday’s run-off, which observers said was marred by violence and intimidation.
Mr Tsvangirai had dropped out of the runoff after a campaign of state-sponsored violence against his supporters.
Just hours after he was declared the winner, Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwe’s leaders since independence in 1980, sounded a conciliatory note.
“Sooner or later, as diverse political parties, we shall start serious talks,” he said in a speech following his swearing-in yesterday. He also had promised talks on the eve of the vote.
Many world leaders have condemned Friday’s run-off.
President George Bush has said the US is working on ways to further punish Mugabe and his allies. That could mean steps against his government as well as additional restrictions on the travel and financial activities of Mugabe supporters.
Mr Bush also wants the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe as well as travel bans on Zimbabwe government officials.
Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa, who has been one of the few African leaders openly critical of Zimbabwe’s government, was not at the summit. He was taken to a local hospital yesterday after falling ill while meeting African leaders.
