African leaders hoped to find a resolution to Zimbabwe’s deepening political crisis yesterday at an emergency summit in Zambia, but Zimbabwean officials told state media that President Robert Mugabe would not attend the “unnecessary” meeting.
Two weeks since a presidential election that produced no official winner, Zimbabwean police have banned political rallies and the opposition has accused the authorities of waging a violent crackdown.
Official results from the March 29 election have yet to be released. Independent tallies suggest Mugabe lost, but that a runoff would be needed because no one won more than 50 percent of the vote.
PHOTO :AP
Main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he won outright and has traveled the region in recent days asking neighboring leaders to push for Mugabe to resign after 28 years in power.
The state-run Herald newspaper reported yesterday that Mugabe would not attend the summit, citing comments made by Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Secretary Joey Bimha to the state broadcaster on Friday.
Bimha called the summit “unnecessary” because the country’s electoral commission was still collating results of the presidential vote, the paper said.
Bimha said he and three Cabinet ministers would represent Zimbabwe at the summit instead. Mugabe’s spokesmen and Zambian officials previously said that the Zimbabwean president planned to attend, but Mugabe’s representatives started to suggest on Friday that he might back out.
It is a rare move by Mugabe, who has regularly appeared at regional and international meetings despite international condemnation of his administration.
Mugabe has traditionally enjoyed the support of other African leaders, using past meetings of the Southern African Development Community to denounce his opposition and Western leaders he accuses of plotting to topple him.
Yesterday’s emergency regional summit was called by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, the only southern African leader to publicly criticize Mugabe’s policies. At least 10 heads of state were expected, Zambian Information Minister Mike Mulongoti said.
They will meet as Zimbabwe’s opposition says a government crackdown on them is worsening.
In an interview from Botswana on Friday, Tsvangirai implied he feared returning home, saying he was a “prime target” for security forces.
Tsvangirai arrived in Lusaka on Friday night with spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo, who called for solution from southern African leaders who have notably failed to criticize Mugabe.
“Surely it must now weigh upon them that they need to find a final solution,” Mlilo said.
“Zimbabweans went to the polls, voted for change, voted for the MDC and Mr Tsvangirai. The democratic will of the Zimbabwean people must be protected by the leaders of southern Africa,” Mlilo said.
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change has held no major protests since the vote, but party officials had planned a rally for today, one day before an expected High Court ruling on their petition to force the release of the results.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the international community’s patience with Zimbabwe’s regime was “wearing thin.”
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