|
Step up pressure on Zim - Tutu
18/09/2007 23:13 - (SA)
London - Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday called on Britain to toughen its stance on Zimbabwe and press the troubled nation's neighbours, including his own South Africa, to intervene.
Tutu told Britain's ITV television network that "quiet diplomacy" had failed to halt the crumbling of Zimbabwe's economy and a political and humanitarian crisis.
"By now it ought to be clear that the softly softly approach - quiet diplomacy - has not worked at all and we want something a little more forthright, a little more categorical," Tutu told ITV News.
He called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to press for international efforts to set President Robert Mugabe deadlines to improve the country's economic and political woes - and threaten punitive measures if improvements aren't made.
"I myself believe that the humanitarian situation is so fraught that we would need all the help we can get," Tutu said. "It's been deeply, deeply distressing, the kinds of things that have happened to ordinary people in Zimbabwe." 'Africans must hang their heads in shame'
"All of us Africans must hang their heads in shame for having allowed such a desperate situation to continue almost without anybody doing anything to try and stop it," Tutu said.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned in a report on Tuesday that Zimbabwe "is closer than ever to complete collapse", saying four out of five of the country's 12 million people live below the poverty line.
Tutu said he hoped the international community would push South African President Thabo Mbeki and the Southern African Development Community to do more to alleviate suffering in Zimbabwe.
"People are being detained, human rights are being violated without any conscience at all," Tutu said. "It is we who are on the outside who ought to intervene."
- AP
|
News
Zimbabwe Special Report
