The Zimbabwe government savoured a rare diplomatic victory on Wednesday after the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on how to respond to the country’s post-election crisis.
Western countries such as former colonial power Britain, urged on by the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been trying to steer the council to adopt a common strategy on the situation in Zimbabwe, where the results of a March 29 presidential election have still to be announced.
However, a meeting of the council at UN headquarters in New York broke up on Tuesday without agreement after a clear split among the 15 member nations.
”It was a British machination to try to bully African nations, a racist ploy … to say Africans are not capable of making decisions and that African issues can only be seen through the eyes of little England,” Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said.
”It was a non-event, there was no need for that.”
Matonga said the division among the international community on how to deal with the Zimbabwe crisis should be a lesson to UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, accusing him of bias towards the opposition.
Ban said on Tuesday that the Zimbabwean authorities should immediately release the presidential poll results, saying: ”We know who is the winner.”
”It’s a lesson for the secretary general of the UN that he should not take sides as he had done in the previous meeting to try to mention Zimbabwe at a breakfast meeting with Gordon Brown,” said Matonga.
South Africa, Russia and China were among the countries that blocked moves towards any UN intervention, despite pleas by the MDC for a special UN envoy to be sent to the troubled Southern African nation.
The outcome is a rare diplomatic victory for the Mugabe regime, which has been under increasing pressure over the hold-up to the election results.
The state-run Herald newspaper, whose headline proclaimed ”UN snubs MDC”, accused Britain of trying to lobby Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania to form a group to pressurise regional countries to lean on Mugabe.
‘The council is divided’
MDC secretary general Tendai Biti flew to New York in an unsuccessful attempt to brief the council on the post-poll crisis.
He called for a ”strong and decisive” resolution from the Security Council against the Mugabe regime, as well as for the dispatch of a UN envoy or fact-finding mission to his country.
Proponents of the attempt to put Zimbabwe on the agenda included the United kingdom, United States, Belgium and France.
US deputy ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff deplored the fact that the council could not find common ground on how to respond.
”The council is divided,” he said.
”There are a number of governments who were quite outspoken about the importance of the council remaining engaged … but there were others who have different views and think that the situation deserves more time and that ultimately it is up for the Zimbabwean people to resolve it themselves,” he said.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai (56) claims he defeated the 84-year-old Robert Mugabe in the March 29 presidential poll, based on his party’s calculations.
But Mugabe supporters say no candidate won outright and there should be a run-off. No official result has so far been released.
The post-election impasse has led to a rise in violence, with the MDC claiming that 15 of its followers have been killed by Mugabe loyalists.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a respected New York-based watchdog, said the African Union and UN needed to take immediate action to prevent further violence in Zimbabwe, accusing the country’s army of running a campaign of terror.
”The army and its allies — war veterans and supporters of the ruling party Zanu-PF — are intensifying their brutal grip on wide swathes of rural Zimbabwe to ensure that a possible second round of presidential elections goes their way,” Georgette Gagnon, HRW’s Africa director, said in a statement.
”Military forces are providing arms and trucks to the so-called war veterans, who have been implicated in numerous acts of torture and other violence against opposition MDC members and supporters.”
Controversial land-grabs
Meanwhile, Barclays Bank has been accused of providing ”personal banking services” for up to four members of Mugabe’s regime, London’s Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
The four members of the Mugabe government are said to have benefited from the controversial land-grabs from white farmers in Zimbabwe, the newspaper said.
According to the Liberal Democrats, the alleged support was against the spirit of European Union sanctions, which specifically target leading members of the Zimbabwe government.
Under European Union sanctions imposed in 2002, bank accounts and funds of 131 members of Mugabe’s regime were frozen.
Barclays allegedly provided the facilities through a locally registered company, Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe, listed on the Harare Stock Exchange, the Daily Telegraph said.
Barclays could lawfully avoid the sanctions regime because it owned a 64% stake through a locally incorporated holding company — and local companies are exempt from the sanctions.
A Barclays spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph: ”We are studying the comments … Barclays is compliant with EU sanctions regarding Zimbabwe. Barclays always seeks to conduct its business in an ethical and responsible manner.
”Barclays has been in Zimbabwe since 1912 and is deeply committed to supporting its 150 000 customers in the country in what is clearly a difficult operating environment.” — AFP, Sapa