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07 July 2008
Zimbabwe’s opposition party leader snubbed talks with President Thabo Mbeki and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe because it would not recognise Mugabe as president, nor Mbeki as mediator.
Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo said the party was invited to the meeting, arranged by Mbeki on Saturday, but chose to decline.
Mbeki is attempting to kick-start talks between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on a proposed government of national unity. Mbeki instead held talks in Harare with Mugabe and members of a breakaway MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara.
Mutambara broke away from the MDC in 2006. “Mugabe is an illegitimate leader and being seen to be part of that meeting, legitimises the man,” said Mlilo. He reiterated the opposition party’s stance that Mbeki is not a suitable mediator for talks in embattled Zimbabwe.
“We still have reservations [about] Mbeki staying on as mediator, because he falls short of our requirements and our preconditions,” Mlilo said. And the setting for talks doesn’t look like it will improve.
Mlilo continued: “We still say that we will not be a part of any mediation until the violence stops, political prisoners are released, they allow humanitarian aid for the people and, until parliament convenes based on the March 29 election results.”
“More than that, there is not much we can do, other than calling for those preconditions and the help of African leaders to assist,” he said. ý Meanwhile, the crisis in Zimbabwe is on the agenda of talks between David Miliband, the visiting British foreign secretary, and his South African counterpart, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Miliband arrived in the country yesterday for the eighth session of the SA-UK Bilateral Forum, scheduled for tomorrow in Pretoria, the foreign affairs department said. After meeting about 2000 refugees at a centre in Johannesburg, Miliband said Britain would redouble its efforts to ensure that Mugabe’s regime is not seen as “a legitimate representation of the will of the people of Zimbabwe”.
Miliband also called for the international community to support US-proposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, to be tabled in coming days at the United Nations Security Council in New York, saying it is “imperative” to find a solution to the worsening crisis afflicting South Africa’s northern neighbour. “I hope for unity at the United Nations with regards to Zimbabwe,” he said.
The impasse in Zimbabwe is also expected to feature prominently in talks between leaders of the G8 leading industrialised nations in Tokyo this week. Speaking in Alexandra in northern Johannesburg yesterday, Miliband added: “I’m here with other ministers to discuss matters of trade, health, finance and, of course, foreign policy. “We will be discussing Zimbabwe at this meeting because there has been an abuse of their electoral process.”-SA Times
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