Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has held talks with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Gambia, and Annan will definitely not be going to Harare later this year, Zimbabwe state television reported late on Saturday.
The announcement ends days of speculation over whether Mugabe would agree to meet Annan this weekend for private talks on the crisis in Zimbabwe and whether the Zimbabwean leader would reissue last year’s invitation to the UN boss.
The meeting went on for less than an hour, the television said.
The report said Mugabe and Annan discussed Zimbabwe’s relations with former colonial power Britain. Mugabe blames Britain for Zimbabwe’s searing political and economic problems, accusing British Prime Minister Tony Blair of internationalising a dispute between the two countries.
Earlier this week, Mugabe made it clear he would accept no intervention in the Zimbabwean crisis, telling thousands of ruling party supporters at a state funeral that Zimbabwe did not need rescuing.
Stung by criticism of his controversial campaign of slum demolitions last year, Mugabe invited Annan to come to Zimbabwe to see the situation for himself. But the invitation appeared to have been withdrawn earlier this year. — Sapa-dpa