Tsvangirai rejects Zimbabwe talks for now

By Cris Chinaka Reuters - Wednesday, July 2 08:47 pm

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday rejected talks on a unity government, saying President Robert Mugabe must first stop violence and accept him as the rightful election winner.

African Union leaders called at a summit on Tuesday for the two sides to negotiate to end the crisis after Mugabe's re-election in a June 27 ballot that was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed by much of the world as a sham.

Tsvangirai pulled out of the election because of attacks on his supporters. He had won a first round vote on March 29.

"Significantly the conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe are not conducive to negotiations. If dialogue is to be initiated, it is essential that ZANU-PF stops the violence, halts the persecution of MDC leaders and supporters," he told a news conference in Harare.

Tsvangirai said talks had to be based on recognising only the first round vote. He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) should be the legitimate government after beating Mugabe's ZANU-PF in parallel parliamentary elections.

Mugabe's officials earlier welcomed the call from African leaders for talks on a power-sharing government.

"We are committed to talk, not just with Tsvangirai but to other parties as well," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told Reuters.

Despite the AU support for a power-sharing deal modelled on the one that ended post-election violence in Kenya earlier this year, disagreement over who should lead the government could prove an insurmountable obstacle.

Mugabe, 84, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sunday after election authorities announced he had won about 85 percent of the vote in a run-off, which was condemned by monitors and much of world opinion as violent and unfair.

The veteran leader has presided over an economic catastrophe marked by the world's highest hyperinflation, food and fuel shortages and 80 percent unemployment. Millions of Zimbabweans have fled to neighbouring countries.

SANCTIONS

Western countries are pushing for U.N. sanctions on Zimbabwe's leaders and a draft U.S. resolution called for a U.N. travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe's inner circle. But some countries on the Security Council have shown little appetite for such measures, already imposed by Europe and the United States.

According to an annex to the latest version of the draft, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, Mugabe is among 12 people who would face U.N. sanctions because he is the "Head of Government responsible for activities that seriously undermine democracy, repress human rights and disrespect the rule of law".

Zimbabwean Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono would face sanctions because he is "responsible for funding repressive state policies", the text says.

Also on the sanctions list is the army's chief commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, who the MDC says coordinated Mugabe's campaign for the election.

Commenting on the sanctions efforts, British foreign minister David Miliband told Channel Four news:

"We're working very hard because I think it's vital that President Mugabe and his retinue of elite people who are keeping him going feel the pain that is being suffered by the rest of Zimbabwe's population."

But some UN powers resisted the push for sanctions.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russia disliked using sanctions and said the problem should be dealt with by the African Union and Southern African Development Community.

Officials from China, which like Russia is a permanent veto-wielding council member, have made clear they feel the Security Council should not interfere in Zimbabwe and have repeatedly referred to the issue as "an African problem".

Tsvangirai said talking to Mugabe would be meaningless unless the African Union sent a permanent envoy to expand mediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki, criticised for being too soft in his diplomacy with Mugabe.

A senior Western diplomat at the United Nations said Western powers were pushing for a U.N. senior envoy to be appointed to bolster African efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.

(Additional reporting by Nelson Banya in Harare, Mark John in Brussels, Louis Charbonneau at the UN and Paul Simao in Johannesburg; writing by Paul Simao and Barry Moody; editing by Michael Georgy)

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