SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egyptù Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe sought a boost of political legitimacy at a summit of African leaders after his re-election was widely discredited as a sham. Mugabe’s fellow leaders appeared unlikely to strongly criticize him, de
The United States has vowed to bring the issue of Zimbabwe before the U.N. Security Council this week, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the AU to reject the result of Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff. Mugabe was the sole candidate in Friday’s vote. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew, saying his supporters had become targets of brutal state-sponsored violence.
The summit should “make it absolutely clear that there has got to be change” in Zimbabwe, Brown said in London. “I think the message that is coming from the whole world is that the so-called elections will not be recognized.”
The 84-year-old Mugabe basked in the opportunity to show regional recognition of his victory, a day after he was sworn in as president for a sixth term following Friday’s voting. He entered the conference hall alongside his host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a U.S. ally who has also come under international criticism over unfair elections. In meetings later, Mugabe hugged several heads of states and other diplomats, said one African delegate who was present.
“He was hugging everyone, pretty much everyone he could get close to,” said the delegate, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings were closed to the media. In his opening address to the gathering, the African Union’s head, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, congratulated the Zimbabwean people and AU mediators but not Mugabe himself. He called the elections “historic” but also said there were challenges.
A draft resolution written by AU foreign ministers and due to be approved by leaders at the summit does not criticize the runoff election or Mugabe. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, condemned violence in general terms and called for dialogue. The AU’s leaders were expected to gently urge Mugabe to engage in some sort of power-sharing agreement with the country’s opposition, along the lines of a deal that ended violence in Kenya earlier this year. (AP)
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