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No pressure on Zim - delegates
17/08/2007 20:26 - (SA)
Lusaka - Southern African leaders did not pressure Zimbabwe to enact political reforms at a regional summit, delegates said on Friday.
The delegates said Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, the new
chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
proposed a discussion of Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis but other leaders were not eager to review the matter.
Other delegates said South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating between the Zimbabwean government and its opponents, delivered a report on his efforts and said progress had been made.
Southern African countries have been accused of being too soft on Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe has been cracking down on the opposition as the country sinks deeper into
an economic crisis.
"There was nothing extraordinary to warrant a discussion on
Zimbabwe. SADC nations are mandated to help Zimbabwe and we will
not go beyond those parameters," said Zimbabwe's presidential
spokesperson, George Charamba.
Mwanawasa was the first African leader to openly encourage
Mugabe to reform his battered country, which he described as a
"sinking Titanic" during a visit to Namibia this year.
- Reuters
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