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Zimbabwe willing to brief summit called by Zambia

Zimbabwe said yesterday it was prepared to brief an emergency summit of southern African leaders on the situation in the country, but did not indicate whether Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe would attend.

Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said that although it was not normal for another country — in this case Zambia — to call such a summit, “Zimbabwe would appraise the regional bloc of political developments in the wake of the elections,” the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the March 29 vote outright, and accused Mugabe of delaying the results so he can orchestrate a runoff and give ruling party militants time to intimidate voters and ensure he wins a second election.

Tsvangirai embarked on a trip around the region on Wednesday, beginning with Botswana, to ask Mugabe’s peers to push him to end the standoff. He met with Botswanan President Seretse Ian Khama and hoped to travel to four or five other countries before tomorrow, opposition officials said.

“Definitely I think the Botswana president was very helpful to us ... he would also like to participate in assisting in whatever way he can to resolve the crisis,” Tsvangirai aide George Sibotshiwe said yesterday from Botswana.

Spokesman Nelson Chamisa, in Zimbabwe, said yesterday that Tsvangirai would ask regional leaders to “pressure and counsel Mugabe to accept the verdict of the people.”

“The issues are to help Zimbabweans realize or resolve their crisis. We have done our bit and Mugabe was defeated,” Chamisa said by telephone.

With no resolution in sight 11 days after the election, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa called an emergency summit of southern African leaders for tomorrow to discuss the crisis, Zambia’s information minister said.

MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti said regional leaders should push for Mugabe’s resignation at the summit.

“We don’t know why the world has to wait until dead bodies start littering the streets of Harare,” he said. “Morgan Tsvangirai won this election without the need for a runoff, and we will not accept any other result except one that confirms that we won this election.”
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