President Bush urged fellow Group of Eight as well as African leaders Monday to back a U.N. sanction on Zimbabwe as punishment for what he denounced as a “sham” election last month by Robert Mugabe.
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(Photo: AP/Koichi Kamoshida, POOL)G8 leaders, from left, EU President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda wave to hotel employees as they leave for the family photo at the Windsor Hotel Toya Tuesday, July 8, 2008 in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan.
"I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe,” Bush said at the G-8 summit in Japan, according to Agence France-Presse. “I am extremely disappointed in the election, which I labeled a sham election."
Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwe’s only leader since its independence from Britain in 1980, was “re-elected” on June 27 after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out of the contest because of what he claimed to be state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Tsvangirai said asking his supporters to vote for him would be like asking them to risk their lives.
Tsvangirai had won more votes in the March presidential election, but fell short of the majority needed to be declared president. Last month’s runoff election was the second round of voting that was supposed to determine who would lead the country.
At least 80 opposition supporters were killed before the runoff, and more than 10 more of its members have been killed since, the Movement for Democratic Change Party – the opposition party – claims, according to The Associated Press.
"We have made clear, I have made very clear, that the result of the election is not legitimate," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at the G-8 summit.
Germany "does not exclude more sanctions" against Zimbabwe, she said.
The United States last week proposed a resolution that would impose sanction on Zimbabwe and 12 of its citizens, including Mugabe, according to AFP. The sanctions include an arms embargo, a travel ban and a freeze on financial transactions. The draft is expected to be published next week.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had said Mugabe’s sixth term lacked legitimacy and urged the two political parties to negotiate how to return “democratic rules, the rule of law and peace and stability” to the country.
But African leaders that met with the G-8 leaders said although they also share the same concerns, they are opposed to new U.N. sanctions.
"I want to assure you that the concerns that you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us in the African continent," said African Union chief and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
"The only area that we may differ is on the way forward," Kikwete said.
African leaders fear putting pressure on Zimbabwe will worsen the conflict between the ruling and opposition party.
Leaders of the African Union had met earlier this month in Egypt and had adopted a resolution calling for dialogue between Zimbabwe’s two parties. The A.U. pledged their support for a unity government where both parties would share power.
So far talks between the two parties could not be arranged. Mugabe is demanding the opposition party acknowledge the legitimacy of his presidency and the MDC is refusing to respect the election result.
Zimbabwe has been suffering from an economic meltdown in which there is even a shortage of the most basic necessities. The once abundant nation faces inflation at 100,000 percent and an unemployment rate of about 80 percent.
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I don't know that for sure. I'm just guessing, really. I wonder if the story is true, however, that George Bush had never been out of the US (except across the line to Mexico) before he became president? I know the man has a amazing lack of curiosity. Anybody know if that story of an untraveled son of the privileged class is true?
How do you know that Bush had never heard of Zimbabwe?
"I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe," Bush said at the G-8 summit in Japan, according to Agence France-Presse. "I am extremely disappointed in the election, which I labeled a sham election."
Bush back in Texas had never heard of Zimbabwe, and now he "cares deeply?" May be. On the other hand, the president knows a lot about sham elections. He's the product of one.
"O, come, Obama (or even McCain, for that matter)," I pray. "Please do not tarry!"