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Zimbabwe

Mbeki tells Bush to 'butt out'

2008-05-29 14:45
line

Special Report

3 yrs on, Zim unity govt 'still dysfunctional'
3 yrs on, Zim unity govt 'still dysfunctional'

Three years after the formation of Zimbabwe’s unity government, analysts say the coalition has remained dysfunctional as parties continue to differ on reforms and security forces.

War vets battle dispair
War vets battle dispair

A dusty road leads to the village of Wedza, where veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war eke out a meagre living on their farm cooperative, which after a promising start now brings only despair.

Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki has accused US President George W Bush of interfering in Zimbabwe, telling the US to "butt out, that Africa belongs to him", according to a US official.

Mbeki reportedly sent the four-page letter to Bush in late April, following the Zimbabwean elections, criticising Bush for taking sides against Robert Mugabe's government and disrespecting the views of the Zimbabwean people, according to Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson.

In his column, Gerson quoted a US official who said Mbeki had written that "it was not our business", and another official as saying that "Mbeki lost it; it was outrageous".

"Rather than co-ordinating strategy to end Zimbabwe's nightmare, Mbeki criticised the United States in a text packed with exclamation points," Gerson wrote.

White House working on a response

A US embassy official in Pretoria confirmed to News24 on Thursday that the White House had received the four-page letter, and that President Bush's office was working on a response to it.

The official said she hadn't seen the letter and could not comment on its contents personally, but said she understood the White House disagreed with certain points, and felt that the US could play an important role in the region and in Zimbabwe.

Repeated attempts to get comment from the Presidency failed, as Mbeki and his spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, are out of the country, but the Star reported that Ratshitanga said he had no knowledge of the letter.

SA a 'rogue democracy'

In his column, Gerson also said South Africa has actively blocked United Nations discussions on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe - as well as in other countries such as Belarus, Cuba, North Korea and Uzbekistan. South Africa was the only democracy to vote against a resolution over Myanmar, he added.

South Africa is increasingly becoming a rogue democracy, and along with China and Russia, makes the United Nations impotent, and sides with despots, Gerson wrote.

"South Africa remains an example of freedom - while devaluing and undermining the freedom of others. It is the product of a conscience it does not display," Gerson said.

- News24

inside news24

 

Latest comment in Africa

Gerhard says... Wait, how does the reply usually go??? You are a racist! You are an agent! It is because of the whites that Zimbobwe is the way it is. The white people took everything before our brothers took over. We took our farms back from the white people that took them from our forefathers. You whites must all go back to Europe where you came from on a boat. We cannot produce on those farms because the white man hid the keys for the tractor and the other one ran out of diesel and we are now waiting for more free diesel from those foreign companies. The white man has poisoned the land with his white tendencies and nothing will grow on it. We have all of the seeds in the barn but the colonialists have stopped the seeds from going from the barn to the ground by themselves. We will fight this third force that is out to destroy us and will overcome the white supremist mafia that controls everything and we will continue to fight for our freedom from tyranny. Never again will a murdering white man be in power and we will rather have a corrupt government than a government that has killed millions of Zimbobweans. We do not want to be reminded of our painful past where the white slave masters prevented us from getting an education. I think that about covers it. Read the article...

 
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