(TALKZIMBABWE) 'Britain wants inclusive govt to succeed'

'Britain wants inclusive govt to succeed'
Mutsawashe Makuvise
Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:12:00 +0000

BRITAIN has said that it wants Zimbabwe's inclusive Government to succeed - a statement seen to represent a general change in tone by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government. Zimbabwe's former colonizer said it "wants to give Zimbabwe's inclusive Government a chance of success".

The British Minister for Africa, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, told a Maputo press conference on Tuesday that Britain would consider giving development aid to Zimbabwe if "there are improvements in the human rights situation and the restoration of the rule of law in Zimbabwe".

Lord Malloch-Brown stressed that Britain wanted to see advances in constitutional reforms and in preparation of fresh elections. "We want to continue providing aid - but on condition that the government implement its own agreement, the GPA (Global Political Agreement - the document signed in September 2008 between Presidnet Mugabe's Zanu PF and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change, which is the basis for the current coalition government)".

"We are engaged, but it is a cautious engagement", he said.

Asked about the attendance of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, at the Comesa (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) summit held in Harare at the weekend, Lord Malloch-Brown said doubted whether Bashir would be able to make such an appearance in a couple of years time.

Since Zimbabwe is not a signatory to the Rome treaty setting up the International Criminal Court (ICC), Malloch-Brown though it was difficult to argue that Zimbabwe had broken international law in this instance.

Lord Malloch-Brown believed the ICC "has a pivotal role in justice in Africa".

Asked about President Mugabe's statement that the government will not honour the ruling from the Sadc (Southern African Development Community) tribunal on farm allocations, Lord Malloch-Brown did not echo the criticisms that have frequently been made of Sadc's "quiet diplomacy".

He said that he thought "there are not many other ways of bringing a government to comply with regional and court rulings".

Britains has generally changed its tone and rhetoric on Zimbabwe - a move critics say will mend relations between the two rival countries.

Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, last month met with Zimbabwean ambassador to Britain, Gabriel Machinga - a first high-level meeting between the two countries.

The statement by Lord Malloch-Brown is seen as a vital step in opening up dialogue between Zimbabwe and its former colonizer.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected in Britain in the next week to continue the process of re-engagement and to call for further support for the inclusive Government.

He is currently on a state visit to the EU and US, his first visit overseas since the formation of the inclusive Government with President Robert Mugabe and MDC factional leader, Arthur Mutambara.