World condemns Mugabe

By Chief Reporter
HARARE
International pressure is rising fast as the rest of Africa,and the international community
loses patience with Robert Mugabe’s open flouting of both the terms and the spirit of the power sharing
accord.The Mugabe regime and the state-controlled media continue to parrot the tired refrain that personal travel restrictions against the Zanu (PF) hierarchy and an arms embargo, which they call
sanctions, are responsible for the country’s economic collapse. chief propagandist George charamba has
now blamed sanctions for the state’s failure to issue MDC president and Prime Minister designate, Morgan Tsvangirai with a passport for more than a year now. This is despite the fact that any Zimbabwean
prepared to pay in US dollars can get a fast-track passport within 48 hours.Botswana this week hardened
its stand against Mugabe as his country’s deepening crisis threatened to have a greater impact on the whole region, with the neighbouring country expressing outrage at the government’s refusal to
give Tsvangirai a new passport to attend an emergency summit of regional leaders in Swaziland on Monday.
The summit was supposed to break the logjam on the allocation of cabinet posts among the three parties to the powersharing agreement signed on September 15.Fresh threats of sanctions and condemnation by neighbouring countries greeted this latest episode in a catalogue of acts of bad faith by the veteran
ruler and his Zanu (PF)party.Scathing comments about Zimbabwe by Botswana’s President Ian Khama
through his Foreign Office this week have reinforced signals that other governments are putting more pressure on Mugabe.
The United States threatened on Monday to impose new sanctions against Mugabe if he reneged on the
deal. Last week the EU was threatening to impose fresh sanctions over Mugabe’s planned power grab.
Leader of the breakaway MDc faction, Arthur Mutambara, who was already in Swaziland, refused
to attend the summit, saying it was outrageous for the Zimbabwe government to deny the Prime Minister-designate a passport.He blasted the regime saying that denying Tsvangirai a passport was a complete violation of his rights and showed a total disregard and disrespect for the dialogue process.
He said it was a travesty of justice that the person who is going to be Prime Minister of Zimbabwe continues to be denied a passport.He told SW Radio Africa:
I have told Swaziland, the King and the Heads of government who are here that
there will be no Troika, the meeting won’t start, there will be no discussion and no
debates on Zimbabwe without Tsvangirai. We are saying that SADc must not be complicit
in this criminal conduct on the part of Zanu (PF). Mutambara said his party
would only accept a tripartite agreement and warned: If Mugabe is under any illusion
that he can unilaterally declare a government, my party will not be involved in that government. We will
condemn and denounce that government and more importantly we will call for
international and global isolation of the regime.Mutambara slams Mbeki Mutambara also slammed
ex-South African President Thabo Mbeki for failing to reign Mugabe in over the passport issue. He said: I
told Mugabe personally to stop being frivolous and trivial.I told Mugabe not to allow trivial matters like a passport to affect our national agenda,our national interest. I told him in a bilateral (meeting).
We also discussed this matter with Mbeki, Tsvangirai and myself – the four of us, and we
were given a commitment.Mbeki is aware of this problem and for Mbeki not to sit on Mugabe on this matter is unacceptable.svangirai was given an mergency travel document n Sunday allowing travel
to Mbabane, Swaziland. The TD did not list South Africa,here the MDc leader was ue to connect to Mbabane hrough Johannesburg.he meeting, which had ttracted Armando Guebuza f Mozambique, new South Africa President Kgalema otlante, and the Foreign inister of Angola was scheduled
to be hosted by King Swati III, the chairman of the SADc troika on Politics,
Defence and Security.he regional leaders finally ecided to postpone the emergency ummit to October 27,
when the SADc troika will eet in Harare with principals f Zimbabwe’s main olitical parties in a last ditch
bid to break the deadlock over the sharing of cabinet and gubernatorial posts.
Earlier, King Mswati had offered to send a private charter plane to Zimbabwe to fetch Tsvangirai. But the
MDc leader declined the offer and demanded that he be issued a new passport before making the trip.
The government of President Ian Khama of Botswana, a vociferous critic of the Mugabe regime,
blamed the 84-year-old Mugabe for the collapse of talks on forming a new cabinet.
This failure, which is a  result of one party seeking to dominate power, cannot be
allowed to go unchallenged, read a statement released by Botswana’s Foreign ministry.
Denying Tsvangirai travel documents was totally unacceptable and an indication of bad faith, the statement continued Khama, alarmed by the pula’s slide to record lows against the US dollar, pound,
and euro, stepped up the offiicial rhetoric sharply this week, saying of Zimbabwe that the
wheels have come off thereand that there should be fresh  internationally-supervised
presidential elections.Southern African leaders have now acknowledged publicly for the first time
that Zimbabwe’s deepening political and economic crisis is causing concern and said
the appointed committee of presidents will hastily move to try to resolve Zimbabwe’s
World condemns Mugabe Continued From P1
The MDC has, on numerous occasions, accused Mbeki of taking sides with Mugabe.
Spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Mbeki’s efforts to avoid collapse in South Africa’s
northern neighbour and biggest trading partner had failed because the ousted SA
President was looking at the crisis with Zanu (PF) spectacles, and yet the crisis was
threatening the entire region. Chamisa said the MDC would get instructions from
the people if it clinches a viable and bankable deal that can enable the people to
invest in the leadership.He accused Mugabe of a catalogue of acts of bad faith
and unilateralism.”There is blatant lack of good faith, Chamisa told
The Zimbabwean. We are not interested in the issue of power for the sake of power. We
did not form the MDC to be rich but to improve our lives.We have resisted the stick
they have used in the run up to the June run-off election.Now they are using the carrot
(by offering ministerial parks)and we have no appetite for the carrot until we have fair
power-sharing.Chamisa said the dispute was over 10 ministries.Top foreign donors and
multi-lateral agencies have repeatedly said that a skewed power-sharing structure
would not be tolerated and would not unlock desperately needed aid. The donor
countries assert the absence of strong condemnation of Mugabe’s mischief by regional
leaders was undermining the credibility of the powersharing deal.
MDC Secretary General, Tendai Biti said: There’s no reality check on the part of
Zanu (PF), there’s no readiness on the part of Zanu (PF)to engage in a co-operative
government with Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC. It’s sime that a full extraordinary
summit of SADC is reconvened not only to look at outstanding issues, but to say to
Mugabe enough is enough’.