'Stop interfering in Zim affairs'
2008-07-07 12:24
Special Report
The US says "thugs" from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party killed a supporter of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and hurt several others at a weekend rally.
Harare - A top lieutenant to Robert Mugabe told Western governments on Monday to stop interfering in Zimbabwean politics amid mounting international pressure on the president after his controversial re-election.
"We appeal to foreigners and external forces to leave the resolution of the Zimbabwe situation to Zimbabweans alone," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the state-run Herald newspaper.
"Britain, the United States and the European Union, in particular, should stop meddling in our affairs."
Western governments had refused to legitimise Mugabe's re-election in a June 27 poll that was boycotted by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai after deadly attacks on his followers.
US President George W Bush again on Monday dismissed the one-man election as a sham while the EU had said it would only deal with a government led by Tsvangirai who came top in a first round of voting in March.
Thabo Mbeki, the region's long-time mediator between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition, held talks with Mugabe at the weekend and a breakaway MDC splinter faction but Tsvangirai refused to meet the South African president.
Chinamasa said that Western powers were trying to wreck the chances of a negotiated settlement.
"It is very evident that their hand is involved and complicating the smooth dialogue between ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations," he said.
"We are confident that if we are left to discuss this matter as Zimbabweans, we will find a solution sooner rather than later."
- AFP