Posted on 02/19/2003 3:10:32 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
LONDON - Namibian President Sam Nujoma on Wednesday urged reconciliation between Zimbabwe and its main critic, Britain, and said he knew of no human rights abuses under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Speaking to British Broadcasting Corp. radio, Nujoma also referred to a "new initiative" on peace in Zimbabwe, which is torn by political strife, but was vague about what the initiative involved.
Nujoma spoke by telephone from Paris, where he was participating in a Franco-African summit which Mugabe was also due to attend.
Last week, the European Union (news - web sites) extended a one-year travel ban imposed on Mugabe for violating human rights, but allowed him to attend the three-day summit in Paris.
Mugabe's planned visit has outraged human rights campaigners and caused a rift between French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites), one of Mugabe's harshest critics.
But Nujoma, a close Mugabe ally, defended Chirac's decision.
"I believe France took a right decision to invite President Mugabe," he said, adding: "Misunderstandings or disagreement between Zimbabwe and Great Britain will not benefit either country. It is high time the differences between the two countries are amicably resolved."
"A new initiative on peace in Zimbabwe should be taken up by all of us," including southern African, Commonwealth and other countries, Nujoma said. Asked what the new initiative was, he referred only to "contact between Zimbabwe and Britain."
Mugabe, who led his nation to independence in 1980, was re-elected last March despite widespread accusations of human rights violations. The EU imposed sanctions when Zimbabwe refused to let European observers freely monitor the election. Other foreign and local observers condemned the ballot as deeply flawed.
Asked whether there were human rights violations in Zimbabwe, Nujoma said: "Perhaps, there might be. I do not have information that there is political abuse or torture or oppression in Zimbabwe."
Zimbabwe has been wracked by political and economic turmoil since March 2000 when ruling party militants began a state-orchestrated campaign to seize thousands of white-owned commercial farms. The World Food Program has said acute food shortages have left nearly 7 million people, more than half the population, facing famine. Aid groups have partly blamed the shortages on Mugabe's policies.
Lemme guess, this guy is a weapons inspector too?
Another friggin' ostrich.
Mugabwe needs to be removed from Rhodesia, just as soon as we're done ridding Iraq of Hussein.
The fact that the French have welcomed Mugabwe into Paris, is just another indication that the frogs are more comfortable with despots and dictators than those who believe in democracy.
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CIA -- The World Factbook -- Zimbabwe
First it was Rhodesia then SA now America paying the price of silence.
-A Capsule History of Southern Africa--
| Parallels between Apartheid SA & USA today | |||||||||||||||
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ZWNEWS.com - linking the world to Zimbabwe MPR Books - Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African ... Title: "Cry, the Beloved Country" - Topics: World/South Africa The Coming Anarchy -South Africa - The sellout of a nation-- ------------------------------------------ ... anyone who is doubtful about the situation there, or perhaps curious about how much goes unmentioned & unreported by the laughingly-misnamed "watchdog press" need only click the "keyword: Africa Watch" or go here:
FYI, I wrote this a while back: I don't know what will happen in southern Africa beyond a general breakdown into chaos & anarchy... the old bugbear was the Soviets gaining control of the tip & choking our fleet's movements, coupled with control of the mineral wealth. Now it look like Quaddaffi is angling to take over Rhodesia and perhaps spread to South Africa. At this point, we are 20 years too late, but we can at least bear witness to the debacle. Bear in mind I am a partisan- I supported ( with reluctance ) the old white-minority governments in Rhodesia and South Africa, because I knew the Communists and their puppets- including proxies like Cuba- were angling for control of southern Africa. One big problem we have is our media. They have tried to portray the situation in southern Africa as a clone of our own civil-rights struggles when in fact just the opposite was true. Africa is degenerating into chaos and anarchy under the guise of "liberation" and "one man, one vote." All while the media here turns a blind eye to what is really happening. What I used to tell people was that while Apartheid was an onerous, offensive system, I would prefer being a black South African under Apartheid to being a person of any color under the old Soviet system- and I still believe those words to be true and correct. Given time, the old South African government would have worked out its problems- but it was not allowed to do so. Today, we are seeing the results of this folly in Zimbabwe- or rather, we see what tiny bits the web and small elements of talk radio cover. The whole story of contemporary Africa is a sad tale of tribalism, class warfare, kleptocracy, and massive corruption- and one the media here "won't even talk about" because it does not fit within their template of acceptable ideas. I would also add, that both the press and entertainment arms of the media encouraged and supported the toppling of the old governments, i. e., they were in collusion, and complicit in the fall. Now that things have worked out at variance with their idealistic fantasies, they simply "don't talk about it..." "Why do you keep posting this stuff? Nobody cares about Africa, anyway..." Clive, Cincinatus's Wife, blam, myself, and a few others get asked that occasionally- we are among the keepers of the "AfricaWatch" columns, and we continue to post articles about what I believe will prove to be one of the great, tragic stories of the new century. The mainstream press never publishes more than one Africa story a day, and it's usually some fluff or dodge around how grim the situation is over there. But the truth is archived here on Free Republic, and I maintain that one day, when things over there are too awful to be ignored any longer, those who have eyes to see will read the stories here, and be appalled at the silence. That is all... |
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Africa is trying to pass it off as a disputed election and a tiff about it between Britain and one of its former colonies.
The Commonwealth is going to buy into that view.
In reality, Zim's behaviour is a mere 10 years ahead of what we can expect for South Africa.
And Namib has already started the process by stirring up feelings against its own commercial farmers.
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