(TALKZIMBABWE) AU summit ends with no condemnation of President Mugabe

AU summit ends with no condemnation of President Mugabe
Floyd Nkomo
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:47:00 +0000

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.