AU spotlight on Zim

Aimed at highlighting the plight of Zimbabweans, the campaign will see opposition leaders lobbying African heads of state who are gathering in the Ethiopian capital for the African Union summit, set to run from January 31 to February 1, to step up pressure on President Robert Mugabe to end human rights violations and address an acute financial meltdown.
SA President Thabo Mbeki is expected to report to the AU Summit on his failed mission to Zimbabwe on January 31.
His sojourn to Zimbabwe last week Thursday resulted in appalling failure after the mission was undermined by Mugabe and failed to resolve a stand-off between Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party and the MDC.
But in a last ditch effort to salvage a face-saving deal, he is expected to dispatch his Local Government minister Sydney Mufamadi to Harare on Thursday, today, to get the MDC and Zanu (PF) back on the negotiating table.
Mbeki was said to have been shaken by the midnight arrest of Tsvangirai and reportedly expressed profound shock and that it was inconceivable that Tsvangirai could be arrested at a time the two sides were negotiating peace. Mugabe ordered the arrest of Tsvangirai five days after Mbeki flew out his Zimbabwe.
A senior MDC official said although they were not in Addis Ababa to campaign for the exclusion of Zimbabwe from the AU like the delegates from other countries, they believed the AU should target Zimbabwe when enforcing its peer review mechanisms. Mugabe has staunchly refused to sign up to peer review, although he can be arraigned under provisions of the mechanism
The Zimbabwean heard that there was a meeting of the Council of Ministers in Addis Ababa this week, which is set to be followed by the AU summit, expected to attract all of Africa’s 53 heads of State.
The Zimbabwean heard that representatives from Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum were in Addis Ababa right now for civil society meetings ahead of the crucial African Union Summit.  Zimbabwe has been placed firmly on the agenda and the situation in Zimbabwe will be discussed Thursday at the pre-summit meetings, along with the bloody and grim situation in Kenya, where more than 750 have been killed in post-election clashes.
The MDC official said Zimbabwe should be pressured to consider conducting free and fair elections to avoid a contested electoral outcome.
There are still no go areas where the opposition is refused the right to campaign or open structures. Right now the State press is refusing to accept our adverts. Right now  and about 4,1 million people are starving, he said.
The opposition official spoke as police briefly detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, before violently putting down a banned protest mass march in Harare,
 The MDC had called a march Wednesday through the Central Business District of Harare.  Police prohibited the march. A court ruling yesterday reversed the police ban and gave permission for the march to be held in a football stadium instead.  As MDC supporters made their way to the stadium, police were beating and arresting them.