Zim solution 'imperative'
by
2008-07-06 16:19
Johannesburg - Following his meeting on Sunday with Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it was "imperative" to find a solution to the worsening crisis in Zimbabwe.
After meeting with around 2 000 refugees at a centre in Johannesburg, Miliband said Britain would redouble its efforts to ensure that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's regime was not seen as "a legitimate representation of the will of the people of Zimbabwe".
Miliband also called for the international community to support US-proposed sanctions on Zimbabwe to be tabled in the coming days at the United Nations Security Council in New York.
Miliband arrived in South Africa earlier on Sunday for talks with Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma under the auspices of the South Africa-UK Bilateral Forum.
Mbeki talks boycotted
His visit follows South African President Thabo Mbeki's attempt on Saturday to kick-start talks between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on a proposed government of national unity.
Mbeki held talks in Harare with Mugabe and members of a smaller faction of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change led by Arthur Mutambara.
Tsvangirai boycotted the talks.
An MDC spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa, said the conditions Tsvangirai had set out for talks - including the presence of an African Union (AU) envoy - had not been met.
Call for power-sharing
African Union heads of state meeting in Egypt during the week called on Mugabe and Tsvangirai to share power after Mugabe claimed victory in a controversial presidential run-off election he alone contested.
Tsvangirai, who won the first round of voting for president in March, withdrew from the run-off over a spate of attacks on his supporters by Mugabe supporters in the wake of the March election.
The MDC, the West and a handful of African countries are refusing to recognise Mugabe's victory.
The impasse in Zimbabwe is expected to feature prominently in talks between leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations in Tokyo this week. - Sapa-dpa