Paul Redfern
6 July 2008
Nairobi — President Jakaya Kikwete is expected to hold detailed talks with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the crisis in Zimbabwe next week.
Tanzania's leader, who is also the AU chairman, is to be sounded out about the possibility of replacing South African President Thabo Mbeki as the key mediator on Zimbabwe.
Mr Mbeki, who has been roundly criticised for his "softly softly" approach to President Robert Mugabe, is deeply distrusted by the opposition MDC in Zimbabwe and is viewed by many within the international community as unable to stand up to the veteran Southern Africa leader.
Diplomats are suggesting that former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who mediated successfully in Kenya's post-December political crisis, former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano or Ghanaian president John Kufour would be far more acceptable in terms of a neutral candidate.
With criticism growing over President Mugabe's role from within Africa and notably from leaders in Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania, a push to start to resolve the issue is expected to be made at next week's G8 summit in Japan where a number of leading African statesmen will attend.
The Times newspaper reported last week that the UN was considering a shortlist of leading African politicians to help negotiate a political settlement in Zimbabwe.
It added that pressure was mounting in diplomatic circles for the key role of mediating an end to the crisis to be taken out of the hands of South Africa's leader.
The view in top-level diplomatic circles is that Mr Mugabe has frequently pulled the wool over the eyes of Mr Mbeki, and that he will have a harder time from a United Nations or an African Union-led team.
The AU has already agreed a resolution calling on President Mugabe to negotiate with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who many believe was fraudulently defeated in the first round of voting in March.
The move to replace Mr Mbeki comes alongside discussions to increase so-called "smart sanctions" on Zimbabwe aimed at the ruling elite and their families.
These are expected to include a world-wide travel ban and a freezing of any assets held abroad. These are expected to be pushed through at the UN Security Council over the next few days.
Meanwhile, another report says that Western countries are prepared to backtrack on aid pledges they made to Africa in 2005 at the G8 summit because of the growing economic crisis.
At the Gleneagles summit in 2005, G8 leaders pledged to increase development aid to Africa to $25 billion a year.
But a draft communiqué obtained by the Financial Times in the UK, which is due to be issued at the July summit in Hokkaido, Japan, later this month shows leaders will commit to fulfilling "our commitments on [development aid] made at Gleneagles" - but fails to cite the target of $25 billion annually by 2010.
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how can the AU leaders condemn Mugabe when more than 50% are in the same situation as mugabe himself,,,its a tragedy!!
Tell me ... Do you take it with your mother's milk ... this tendecy to interfere and meddle in African affairs??!!! You are so patronising and judgemental. When your brothers terrorise Afrika you call them MERCENARIES. But it other people do it to you, you call by their correct term, namely, TERRORISTS. You are proud to refer to yourselves as COLONIAL POWER ... just another enslaver of both people and their land. Let go of Africa and keep your NGO - Your control agencies - OUT. Fun??!! how these NGOs never operated in apartheid South Africa or Rhodesia. They… [Read Full Text]
It is very painful to see that people are condemned to death by such people as Mugabe and the world would meet for a long time up to until the crisis is nowhere near redeemable. It is particularly disappointing in this case that African leaders cannot themselves take tough and stern measures against perpetrators of violence and Human abuses of this magnitude.