12 July 2008
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Friday which would have imposed an arms embargo against Zimbabwe and financial and travel sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and other key leaders of the country's ruling party.
The resolution was proposed by the United States and backed by eight other countries, including Burkina Faso and European members of the council. South Africa, Libya and Vietnam joined Russia and China in voting against it. Indonesia abstained.
Speaking to UN correspondents after the vote on Friday, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. permanent representative to the UN, launched an attack on South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, charging him with "actions that appear to be protecting Mr Mugabe and to be working hand-in-glove with him at times."
Khalilzad added: "While... Mugabe uses violent means to fragment and weaken the opposition, President Mbeki uses diplomacy in bringing factional leaders within the... opposition, to fragment the opposition by playing with the politics of the opposition." However, he said the U.S. was "encouraged by the trends that we see inside South Africa. I think he (Mbeki) is out of touch with the trends inside his own country."
Within the Security Council, Khalilzad accused Russia of reneging on the G8 statement on Zimbabwe which President Dmitry Medvedev signed up to earlier in the week. In the statement, the world's major industrialized nations declared: "We will take further steps, inter alia introducing financial and other measures against those individuals [in Zimbabwe] responsible for violence."
Khalilzad said that Russia's "U-turn... is particularly surprising and disturbing... The Russian performance here today raises questions about its reliability as a G8 partner."
The resolution was supported by the United States, Britain, France, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Italy and Panama.
Its supporters characterized it as a means of giving Zimbabwe's rulers "incentives" to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party won the highest number of votes in Zimbabwe's March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections. They said sanctions could be lifted in response to progress in talks.
Opponents said the situation in Zimbabwe did not meet the standards for sanctions stipulated in Chapter VII of the UN Charter - that it was a threat to international peace and security. China's representative, Wang Guangya, told journalists the resolution would have been "counter-productive" to African-led talks to resolve the crisis. "We count on the efforts of the Africans," he said.
Speaking against the resolution during the council meeting, Angola said it could exacerbate conflict on the ground and complicate dialogue. Tanzania asked the council to give a chance to the talks set in motion by last week's African Union resolution before adopting a "punitive option."
Zimbabwe's UN representative, Boniface Chidyausiku, told reporters after the vote that "the UN has stuck to the Charter. If the resolution had proceeded, it was going to impede the process of negotiations." He ascribed the resolution to "the arrogance of the Americans, that they can rule the world. They can't."
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Do you have a clue what is going on in Zimbabwe? Do you know how much the people are suffering as a result of Mugabe's rule? This has nothing to do with Iraq in the least! The U.S. will not go into Zimbabwe. Frankly, as a country, we don't care about Africa. At least we are on the side of good in this case. I have a friend from Zimbabwe that is in jail in America because his parents oil business was taken by Mugabe and his thugs. As a result he could not pay his college tuition and was… [Read Full Text]
Grow up kid!
"Do you have a clue what is going on in Zimbabwe? Do you know how much the people are suffering as a result of Mugabe's rule?" Many more are suffering because of western-imposed sanctions.
"This has nothing to do with Iraq in the least! The U.S. will not go into Zimbabwe. Frankly, as a country, we don't care about Africa." And this is news?
"At least we are on the side of good in this case." What "we" are we talking about western man?
"I have a friend from Zimbabwe that is in jail in America because his parents oil… [Read Full Text]
Western countries want to oust Mugabe from power for two reasons. First, Mugabe sent his military to DR Congo in the 1990's to halt the invasion and occupation of DR Congo by the armies of Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda. The invasion was financially and militarily sponsored by the USA and UK, and its aim was to effect a regime change in DR Congo so that western countries would loot the natural resources of DR Congo at will. Up until the time of the invasion, Zimbabwe had been buying its jet fighters from England, with an agreement that the sellers of… [Read Full Text]
I'm sorry, how is this post relevant to this article? Why do you continually cut and post your comments from one string to the next? What if everyone did that? Do you think that you have written a master piece and the more places your copy it too, the more praise your ego will receive? Do you think your voice needs to be heard 100 times while everyone else just the once? Do you think you are that much more special than everyone else?
THIS IS WHAT MUGABE IS UP AGAINST "Character Assination","Nation Destabilization" the Brits are Master of this game and they have perfected it to a fine art. CHECK THESE OUT ON YOU TUBE and then write your article
Life and Debt - Globalization and Jamaica
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5277094596195828118 or
Democracy Now! | Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. ... We speak with John Perkins, a former respected member of the international banking community. In his book _Confessions of an Economic Hit Man_ he describes ... democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/09/1526251 - 41k - Cached… [Read Full Text]
I'm sorry, how is this post relevant to this article? Why do you continually cut and post your comments from one string to the next? What if everyone did that? Do you think that you have written a master piece and the more places your copy it too, the more praise your ego will receive? Do you think your voice needs to be heard 100 times while everyone else just the once? Do you think you are that much more special than everyone else?
See all comments (142).
It is quiet possible that China and Russia do not want to give the UK and USA a free license to start lying and justify a military invation of Zimbabwe. This is fresh from the foolishly carried out invation of Iraq. The Iraq lies and invasion have made China and Russia to be more careful about letting the USA and UK justify their own self interests.
Sanctions would have made Mugabe more ruthless and really ruined efforts for a more peaceful dialogue between the warying political parties of Zimbabwe.
I personally resent the bully of veto-power excised by the 5… [Read Full Text]