|
Zim-Britain: 'AU should mediate'
29/11/2007 10:06 - (SA)
Susan Njanji
Harare - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said on Wednesday he would try and get African leaders to help mend fences between Harare and London but Zimbabwe's veteran ruler Robert Mugabe appeared to spurn the offer.
Wade, in Harare for talks with Mugabe in a bid to defuse tensions between Zimbabwe and its erstwhile colonial master, also urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reverse his decision to shun next month's European Union-Africa Summit in Portugal over Mugabe's attendance.
"I wish that the African Union (AU) set up a commission of five heads of state ... to normalise relations for dialogue between Zimbabwe and England. I think that is indispensable," said Wade.
'No to unhelpful parallel initiatives'
But Mugabe late on Wednesday said Zimbabwe would not accept what he called "unhelpful parallel initiatives" outside the southern African regional bloc Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to resolve his country's crises.
"Zimbabwe will not brook such interferences... unhelpful parallel initiatives," he said, appearing to reject a proposal earlier in the day by Wade.
President Thabo Mbeki had been mandated by SADC to broker talks between Zimbabwe's ruling party and the main opposition to end a political crisis which had been exacerbated by the country's economic meltdown.
Meanwhile, Britain said late on Wednesday that it would send a former junior minister at the December 08-09 EU-Africa summit in Lisbon if Mugabe turns up.
Valerie Amos would represent Britain rather than any serving members of the cabinet, said a spokesperson for Brown. Amos served as international development minister from 1998 until earlier this year.
British govt 'has a problem'
But Wade, who said he had tried unsuccessfully to telephone Brown stressed that he planned to speak to Brown or travel to Britain before the Lisbon summit.
"I think that the British government has a problem there, I think we will not let the situation continue," said Wade, who concluded his visit on Thursday.
Asked whether Brown's absence would impact the Lisbon summit, Mugabe said: "From our point of view, he is just an individual. That is the point of view of Africa."
The octogenarian leader - once adored in the West for leading his country to independence from white-minority rule, but now shunned as an authoritarian leader who had stifled democracy - said he was open to talks with Britain.
He said: "Wade wanted to know if we object to dialogue and I told him no. We have never ever said no to any dialogue with the British. We will talk even if we may not agree after talking. We don't fear talking."
Brown's office said earlier that Britain would not leave its summit chair empty, although Brown ruled out himself or senior ministers from attending.
|
News
