South Africa has urged conflicting parties in Zimbabwe to restart negotiations amid renewed violence, but a local newspaper on Tuesday said Pretoria lacked the leadership to take decisive action.
”More than ever before, we are convinced that a solution of the current changes facing Zimbabwe lies in dialogue between Zanu-PF and the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change),” foreign ministry spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said on Tuesday.
”Acting in the best interests of the country, we will continue our actions, as part of regional efforts, to assist the people of Zimbabwe in this regard.”
Zimbabwean police resorted to violence on Monday to suppress anti-government protests called for by the MDC and aimed at forcing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to return to the negotiating table.
Group of Eight (G8) leaders also voiced their concern on Tuesday over the violent crackdown by Zimbabwe state authorities and urged Mugabe to allow peaceful protest.
”We are concerned about reports of further violence by the authorities in Zimbabwe against their own people,” G8 members said in a final statement after a three-day summit in Evian, France.
”We called on the government of Zimbabwe to respect the right to peaceful demonstration,” the statement read.
Britain, the former colonial power in the country, had pressed for the G8 leaders to take a strong line on the violence in Zimbabwe in their final statement, a British diplomatic source said.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw appealed on Monday to the Zimbabwe government to allow people to demonstrate and express their views peacefully.
The government had a ”fundamental obligation to respect the rights of Zimbabwean citizens to demonstrate and express their views peacefully,” Straw said in a statement.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has also expressed concern ”about reports of the possibility of violence,” his spokesperson Fred Eckhard said on Monday.
He urged protest organisers to ensure their action remained peaceful, as well as calling on the Zimbabwe government to respect ”the basic principles of freedom of expression and assembly”.
Annan also underscored ”his continued support for and readiness to contribute to the search for a negotiated solution of the serious difficulties facing the country”.
The European Union added its voice to international concern, calling on Zimbabwe’s government and opposition to abstain from violence during the week of anti-government protests.
”The EU urges the MDC and civil society to ensure that any protests are indeed carried out peacefully,” the bloc’s Greek presidency said in a statement.
”It also calls on the government of Zimbabwe to desist from any violence and respect the rights of its citizens to demonstrate and express their views peacefully.”
The statement warned the government not to repeat the violent response with which it met an earlier opposition-sponsored strike in March.
”The excessive use of force which characterised its response to the stayaway of 18-19 March should in no case be repeated,” the statement said.
Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC leader, was arrested on Monday morning for defying a court order obtained by the Zimbabwean police to outlaw the mass action.
The MDC has refused to accept the results of the March 2002 presidential election and challenged the legality of the vote which returned Mugabe to power in court — a step that has hampered efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table.
South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian and Malawian counterparts, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Maluzi, visited Zimbabwe earlier this month in a bid to persuade the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union — Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and opposition MDC to resume talks.
South Africa has come under fierce criticism for refusing to speak out against the lack of rule of law in Zimbabwe.
The Sowetan daily, with a mainly black readership, criticised Mugabe for banning the demonstrations, saying he had squandered an opportunity to show his commitment to upholding human rights.
”The prudent thing to do now is for both sides to consider a truce, take the battle off the streets and into the negotiating room,” the Sowetan stated in its editorial comment.
”Certainly the time has arrived for Mbeki, Obasanjo and Maluzi to make this point firmly and uncompromisingly.” – Sapa-AFP