African leaders were due to step up calls yesterday for an end to Western sanctions against Zimbabwe and urge South Africa to plead Harare’s cause within the G20 rich and developing nations, officials said.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries would also press Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to end a row over a power-sharing pact that was holding up vital foreign aid, the officials said.
“We are convinced that if sanctions are lifted, Zimbabwe, within the framework of its current political agreement, will have the possibility to move towards development,” said Congolese Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba.
“We will also ask South Africa, which is the only sub-Saharan African country that is a member of the G20, to plead for Zimbabwe’s cause,” said Mwamba, whose country is taking over the SADC chair and hosting the meeting in Kinshasa.
South African President Jacob Zuma is being watched for signs he will take a tougher line than predecessor Thabo Mbeki over Mugabe, who has been hit by EU and US sanctions including a travel ban for alleged rights abuses and vote-rigging.
Last month, Zuma called on the West to repeal the sanctions. But in what sounded like a tougher tone on Mugabe, he also stressed the need for respect of democracy and human rights.
A recovery in Zimbabwe’s economy is important for South Africa because millions have been driven to seek work in their wealthier neighbor. Zimbabwe says it needs US$10 billion in foreign reconstruction aid, but Western nations are reluctant to release aid without political and economic reform.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government in February as part of a SADC-backed deal to end a political crisis.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese