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Stop Mugabe's 'brutal' regime
17/04/2007 22:14 - (SA)
Copenhagen - Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moeller called on Tuesday on Zimbabwe's neighbours to exert pressure on veteran leader Robert Mugabe and help end his "brutal" regime.
Moeller, speaking after talks with two leading Zimbabwean opposition figures, also urged the continent's powerhouse South Africa to do more to defuse the political and economic crises plaguing its northern neighbour.
"I don't think they (southern African nations) have exercised sufficient pressure up until now," the local Ritzau news agency quoted him as saying.
Urging the 14-nation Southern African Development Community regional bloc to "react," Moeller said President Thabo Mbeki, mandated last month by his peers in the region to defuse the crisis in Zimbabwe, should act firmly.
He said Mbeki, who has been accused by critics at home of treating Mugabe with kid gloves, should "remember that the credibility of southern Africa is at stake if Mugabe continues to steer the boat".
Once model economy
Zimbabwe's once model economy has been on a downward spiral for the last seven years, characterised by runaway inflation - the highest in the world - and perennial shortages of basic commodities.
Exacerbating the situation is the state's increasing crackdown on all opposition to the rule of the country's founding President Mugabe, who at 83 is Africa's oldest leader. Mugabe has held power since 1980 when the country gained independence from Britain.
Last month, the ruling Zanu-PF party chose Mugabe to stand again as its candidate in presidential elections next year.
Moeller, who held talks with Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti, members of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change party that has posed the strongest challenge to Mugabe, said their testimony was "shocking".
"The regime is extremely brutal and seeks to snuff out any opposition through the worst possible means," said the minister.
Western countries have imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his government and have accused him of stifling democracy and human rights in his now impoverished country.
- SAPA
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Zimbabwe Special Report
