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Mugabe gets hero's welcome
04/07/2008 12:39 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe arrived home to a hero's welcome from thousands of supporters on Friday after avoiding serious censure at an African Union summit over his widely condemned one-man election.
At least 4 000 supporters gathered at Harare Airport to welcome the 84-year-old leader, who returned after AU leaders shunned calls for his suspension or the imposition of sanctions over Zimbabwe's political crisis and instead passed a resolution calling for the formation of a national unity government.
The crowd on the airport tarmac sang, danced, played campaign music and waved Zimbabwe flags as Mugabe's flew in from Cairo.
"We realise that our country almost went to the colonialists through the MDC but we have managed to take it back," said a Mugabe supporter who gave his name as Comrade Chitenje, referring to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"That's why so many have come out today. It's an historic moment."
Zim violence claims 90
Olivia Muchena, a spokesperson for Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, said "we are reaffirming the landslide victory. We are welcoming our hero back with love and honour".
The AU summit held in Egypt earlier this week came on the heels of Zimbabwe's one-man election last Friday that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted, citing rising violence against his supporters he blamed on Mugabe thugs and which left some 90 dead and thousands injured.
Mugabe's government hailed the AU resolution and said it was open to dialogue with the opposition, while Tsvangirai had rejected the calls for a national unity government, saying it did not recognise the will of the people.
The opposition leader had said the resolution merely accommodated Mugabe after much of the world dismissed his re-election as a farce, and that the MDC's victory in the first round of the election should be the basis for any talks.
Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the March 29 first round, but with an official vote total just short of an outright majority.
US pushes for UN travel ban
Western calls for sanctions had intensified after the election and Mugabe's swearing in for a sixth term on Sunday, though South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief mediator for the crisis, had warned against imposing a solution from the outside.
On Thursday, the United States pushed for a United Nations travel ban and an assets freeze on Mugabe and 13 of his cronies in protest at the presidential run-off vote.
US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad formally introduced a sanctions resolution, also including an arms embargo on the Harare regime, in the Security Council, and said he hoped it would be voted upon by the 15-member body next week.
The US draft would also direct UN chief Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special representative "who would support the negotiation process between the political parties in Zimbabwe".
- AFP
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Zimbabwe Special Report
