The biggest lizard is Mbeki, a uselss leader and a failed president. Like Mugabe he too will go. We cant wait. South Africa is not the rainbow nation any more, its a violent corrupt system, with police shooting at police, murder and rape the highest in the world. The World must now focus on South Africa, take away the world cup. It time FIFA realised that the soccer tourists are going to be murdered, raped, and have their goods stolen from them at an alarming rate. Secondly to support a nation that supports Mugabe is morally deficient. Its also time for investors to show their support for the anti Mugabe cause and put their money in other countries at the expense of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Jeffjedi(?), I strongly believe African Union wants to follow it's own course rather than be a stoog of the western nations (whatever that means). Increasingly countries like the UK and USA mean less to AU and it is fair to say that the influence of Britain on Africa is probably at it's lowest. UK boycotted EU/AU summit based on Mugabe. The Whole Africa refused to go along with the UK. The UK has reached a tipping point with it's close former colonies of Southern Africa. None of us believe that UK and it's many anglo media outlets are worth listening to anymore. The voices from the UK increasingly do not count. This is hard to get the point to the UK and it's anglo white networks. Africa will not listen to UK, UK no longer hold the stick...I suppose the sun has finally set....

AU will pursue it's own agenda on Zimbabwe. UK needs to find a way to communicate with Africa without appearing parternalistic or because Zimbabwe has that tiny anglo white population. Mugabe gets undue attention because of his claim of white anglo interference in Zimbabwe and for the most part Africa has bought into it!! The over attention of Zimbabwe by UK, may actually be a hinderance for the AU to act against him. Botswana would loose a war against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has little to loss and more to gain if Botswana attacked Zimbabwe.

When bodies like the AU and SADC enshrine democratic principles within their constitions, charters and guidelines, and when member states sign up to these bodies, to the West it signifies each signatory's official agreement with those principles. When a member state, such as Zimbabwe, blatantly disregards certain electoral principles and disregards official requests from those bodies to, for instance, postpone the presidential election; and when Africa's own appointed observer missions state that certain electoral principles and standards have not been met in the election, it is guaranteed that both Western governments and their citizens react critically to the AU and/or SADC for failing to pro-actively censor or intervene to ensure their principles are upheld by all members. If an EU member state behaved against its population in the way that Mugabe has, that state would experience the full force of censure that the EU and other member states are capable of taking - sanctions, ejection from the union, military intervention. Even non-EU states in Europe have been subject to robust intervention (the former Yugoslavia) to halt horrific human rights abuses and re-establish peace and security for the ordinary people.

It is illogical to westerners for any African to condemn countries like Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania, or people like Mandela, as being 'western stooges' when those countries or individuals react in a way that is consistent with the AU/SADC principles they signed up to. Perhaps the real issue is that white/western ideas of the importance of upholding and protecting enshrined principles, and the methods to censure non-compliance is quite different to the general African view on the matter?

Any country that professes to be a democracy (a western/European concept of governance) must expect that other democracies (i.e. mostly western nations) condemn what they perceive to be abuses or destruction of democracy in that country.

If Africa wants to blaze it's own path in the world, it should and must do so - I would so very much love to see in the years to come Africa being able to genuinely take the moral high ground in international affairs, because it has enforced it's own self-established principles of good governance and proven beyond a doubt that it walks it's talk without fear or favour. Show the West how it's done!

Wikki - very well said.

Phiri - your perception of Africa - EU/US relationships is what you would like it to be, not what the reality is. Do your homework and look at what the trade flows into and out of Africa are as well as the movement of peoples. The ties between Africa and the EU/US have never been stronger. Zimbabwe is the obvious exception; but as you so correctly said in another posting much of Africa is enjoying strong economic growth and despite the arrival of new trading partners such at China, trade with Africa's traditional partners is booming and is not under any real threat. You will also see how US standing on the continent quickly lifts once there is a change in the Whitehouse in November.