(NEWZIMBABWE) Obama: No direct aid to Zim gvt

Obama: No direct aid to Zim gvt
by
12/06/2009 00:00:00

UNITED States President Barack Obama has praised Zimbabwe's Prime Minister for trying to the lead the country from political and economic strife toward more hopeful times.

Obama said Friday that he has "extraordinary admiration" for Morgan Tsvangirai as the two leaders spoke to reporters after a private meeting in the Oval Office.

Obama said the U. S. wants to help encourage the rule of law, human rights and basic health and education services in Zimbabwe as he pledged U$73 million dollars in aid.

"I have committed 73 million dollars in assistance to Zimbabwe," said Obama after the White House meeting.

The aid, he cautioned however, "will not be going to the government directly because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy, human rights and rule of law, but it will be going directly to the people in Zimbabwe. "

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week US support for Zimbabwe had to be appropriate as Washington seeks to bolster reform rather than corruption in a tense unity government shared by Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe, who is internationally-reviled.

Obama, standing alongside Tsvangirai, expressed his "extraordinary admiration for the courage, the tenacity that the Prime Minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times" in the southern African nation.

The country, which Obama noted used to be the "breadbasket of Africa," has gone through a "very dark and difficult period politically. "

The power sharing coalition in place since February, Obama added, shows promise and the United States wants to do everything it can "to encourage the kinds of improvement, not only on human rights and rule of law, freedom of the press, and democracy that is so necessary, but also on the economic front. "

After years of opposition that involved suffering death threats, arrests and beatings, Tsvangirai is now trying to change Zimbabwe's government from the inside after he and Arthur Mutambara joined Mugabe in a coalition in February.

Under the fledgling government's watch, more than US$800 million in credit lines have been secured to rebuild the shattered economy, and the International Monetary Fund has said it will resume technical aid to Harare.

But that is still a fraction of the US$8 billion dollars the government says it needs, and private firms say they want more guarantees that the rule of law will be respected before they invest.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations upon his arrival in Washington earlier this week, Tsvangirai called on potential donors to judge his fragile coalition government by what it has done and not by his country's abusive past.

Tsvangirai is on an international tour seeking help for his cash-strapped government. He goes to Europe this weekend, stopping first in Germany where he is set to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday.

Friday’s meeting underscored the quandary Obama faces -- how to support Tsvangirai's efforts to rebuild Zimbabwe's shattered economy without bolstering Mugabe.

Obama extended sanctions against Zimbabwe in March, but he has so far declined to follow in the footsteps of the Bush administration and call for Mugabe to step down. Clinton said, however, last month that “it would be in everyone’s interests if he stepped down”.

Tsvangirai’s warm welcome abroad contrasts with the international chill towards Mugabe.

Both the European Union and the United States maintain a travel ban and asset freeze on the long serving Zimbabwean leader, his wife and inner circle in protest at controversial elections and alleged human rights abuses by his government.

Tsvangirai was anxious on the visit to press Obama to ease economic sanctions on Zimbabwe which prevent the country from accessing lines of credit from major international financial institutions. Zimbabwe also wants banks and other parastatals removed from the sanctions list.