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Egypt: Zimbabwean veteran Mugabe storms out of summit
Wed. July 02, 2008 02:33 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. -
(SomaliNet) With the aid of a special envoy, Zimbabwean Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe stormed out of the Red Sea summit in Egypt before it came to a close as The African Union (AU) called him and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to negotiate a government of national unity (GNU).
The resolution came just hours after both men said a GNU was not an option. Speaking on behalf of Mugabe earlier in the day, spokesperson George Charamba said Zimbabwe must not attempt to emulate Kenya in dealing with its problems.
"The Zimbabwean way, not the Kenyan way. Not at all," he told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh.
"Mugabe came here as president of Zimbabwe. And he will return as president of Zimbabwe."
Speaking through Secretary-general Tendai Biti, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the "sham election" last week precluded all hopes of a negotiated settlement.
Despite the utterances of the two main players, the 53-member bloc proceeded to encourage the two rivals to "honour their commitment to initiate dialogue" in the name of reconciliation.
Without any reference to President Thabo Mbeki, the AU said it supported efforts of the SADC facilitation, but called for a special envoy, or "mechanism on the ground in order to seize the momentum for a negotiated settlement".
The South African government said it was satisfied with the summit outcome.
"As a member country, we are a part of that resolution," Mbeki's spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said.
"We wil continue to work with the Zimbabweans and we are convinced the challenges of Zimbabwe will be resolved."
However, he declined to put a time-frame on it.
Mugabe appeared less satisfied with the outcome and the closing session during which he came in for heavy criticism.
He and his entourage of bodyguards stormed out of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit centre some 30 minutes before the two-day meeting came to a close, missing the traditional group photo.
Independent Newspapers understands that a number of countries, SADC nations among them, had harshly condemned the actions of his party in recent weeks.
In a surprise move, Botswana broke ranks with the SADC negotiation team by telling the AU that they refuse to recognise Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe.
During the closed door session, Vice-President Mompati Merafhe said for all the reasons outlined in the recent reports of the observer missions of SADC, the AU and the Pan African Parliament, "the elections do not confer legitimacy on the government of President Mugabe".-Pretoria News
News Category: Africa
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