A summit of African leaders is encouraging Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to
form a government of national unity with opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai. VOA's Peter Heinlein at the summit site at Sharm el-Sheikh,
Egypt, reports a final summit statement takes no position on Zimbabwe's
runoff presidential election, which many western government have called
a sham.
A summit resolution approved after hours of sometimes
contentious debate avoids many of the difficult questions arising from
Zimbabwe's election. It does not endorse the results, and assesses no
blame for the violence and intimidation that prompted observers and
many western governments to declare Robert Mugabe's inauguration
illegitimate.
The final resolution encourages Mr. Mugabe and
Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai to enter a
dialogue, and support the idea of a Kenya-style government of national
unity.
Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told
reporters the resolution was adopted by consensus during a closed door
meeting. "There was a lengthy debate. Many views were put forward,
including very critical views of the Zimbabwe ruling party and the
president, and the president of Zimbabwe made a lengthy intervention in
which he explained his position, his party's position and the
developments that took place in Zimbabwe in the past weeks and months
which led to the present situation," he said.
The resolution also encourages the Southern Africa Development Community, SADC, to continue its mediation efforts.
The resolution was far milder than what several countries had urged.
Diplomats
inside the closed meeting say the leaders of Botswana, Nigeria, Liberia
and Sierra Leone spoke in strong terms about the election's lack of
legitimacy.
Zimbabwe's neighbor Botswana argued that Zimbabwe and Mr. Mugabe should be barred from membership in the African Union and SADC.
Senegal and Uganda also favored strong action against Mr. Mugabe than the relatively neutral position taken in the resolution.
The
debate underscored the deep divisions among Zimbabwe's neighbors over
how to respond to Mr. Mugabe's open challenge to democracy, Regional
power South Africa has resisted any condemnation of Mr. Mugabe.
Earlier
in the day, a spokesman for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe rejected western
criticism of the presidential election. spokesman George Charamba told
reporters the west has no right to judge the legitimacy of the election
that returned Mr. Mugabe to power. "They can go and hang. They can go
and hang, a thousand times. They've no claim on Zimbabwe at all, and
that's exactly the issue," he said.
When reporters asked if Mr.
Mugabe would give up some power MDC leader Tsvangirai, Charamba
suggested the Zimbabwean leader has no intention of yielding to foreign
influence. "The way out is the way defined by the Zimbabwe people free
from outside interference, and that is exactly what will resolve the
matter," he said.
Zimbabwe's political turmoil, and Mr. Mugabe's
presence completely overshadowed the business of this Red Sea resort
summit. Discussions about meeting anti-poverty and development goals
went virtually ignored. Seats were empty at a news conference to
discuss the summit theme, providing Africa with clean water and
sanitation.
An estimated 30 African heads of state and government attended the two-day gathering at this Red Sea resort.
News
African Union Calls for National Unity Government in Zimbabwe
update