West Piles Pressure on Africa Over Zimbabwe Vote

HARARE (Reuters) - The West piled pressure on Africa on Friday to condemn the re-election of President Robert Mugabe and join international isolation of Zimbabwe's leader.

European Union officials said EU leaders at a summit in Barcelona would issue a tough statement on Zimbabwe's election, roundly condemned as blatant fraud by Zimbabwe's opposition, the United States, Europe and white Commonwealth members.

Mugabe's defeated challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, has denounced last weekend's vote as "daylight robbery," saying tens of thousands of his supporters were stopped from voting or cowed by systematic violence in which more than 100 people died.

In a move sure to provoke further Western condemnation, Mugabe on Friday enacted a controversial media law criticized as aimed at muzzling the press and freedom of expression.

The election has opened a rift between the West and Africa, where reaction has so far been largely positive. Observers from Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia and the Organization of African Unity have all pronounced the poll legitimate.

Britain's Minister for Europe, Peter Hain, told reporters in Barcelona that a communique agreed by all 15 EU heads of government would say: "Elections in Zimbabwe cannot be accepted as free or fair."

The EU's foreign ministers would consider "additional targeted measures" when they next meet in April, Hain said. He gave no further details.

Reflecting Western dismay at apparent African solidarity with Mugabe, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "I hope very much he is coming under the most intense pressure from the people who have the greatest ability to put him under pressure, namely his African neighbors."

"From what I know, these elections do not conform to the norms that I would expect for elections," Wade told reporters in Dakar, but added that he "would not be in a position now to know if they should be considered invalid."

In Harare, the government gazette published an Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which bars foreign correspondents from working full-time in Zimbabwe.

It imposes tight control on local reporters, who have to be accredited by a state-appointed commission. Journalists face up to two years in jail for breaking the regulations.

In South Africa, government sources said President Thabo Mbeki was pushing Mugabe to bring Tsvangirai into a national unity government.

Tsvangirai was adamant that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) wanted more than cabinet seats.

"We will not be party to any Caesarian operation by South Africa. We are not going to have short-cuts...and force issues on Zimbabweans," he told Reuters.

Mbeki has yet to pronounce on Mugabe's election, saying he wants to see reports from South African, Commonwealth and other observers first. He has been criticized at home and abroad for his approach to a crisis that could destabilize the region and dent investor confidence in Africa,

South Africa's rand currency has been battered by concerns over Zimbabwe and on Friday central bank Governor Tito Mboweni urged investors to distinguish between his country and Zimbabwe.

"South Africa is not Zimbabwe. It is a democratic country where property rights are enshrined in the constitution and there will be no 14-year-old war veterans to take over your property," Mboweni told a business forum.

Mugabe has sanctioned the often violent seizure of white-owned farms, which has been led by self-styled veterans of the country's independence struggle more than two decades ago.

Officials in Harare said Mugabe, who has remained publicly silent since the election, would be sworn in for his fifth term as leader on Sunday. The former guerrilla leader has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.

A 61-member Commonwealth observer group issued a scathing condemnation of the election, saying it did not reflect the will of the people and was held in a climate of fear.

Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Australian Prime Minister John Howard are members of a three-nation Commonwealth task force mandated to decide whether to take action against Zimbabwe over the elections.

[Quote] In South Africa, government sources said President Thabo Mbeki was pushing Mugabe to bring Tsvangirai into a national unity government.

But analysts said Mugabe was not inclined to share power. …..

South Africa's rand currency has been battered by concerns over Zimbabwe and on Friday central bank Governor Tito Mboweni urged investors to distinguish between his country and Zimbabwe.

"South Africa is not Zimbabwe. It is a democratic country where property rights are enshrined in the constitution and there will be no 14-year-old war veterans to take over your property," Mboweni told a business forum. [End Quote]

Mbeki is afraid the world will begin to look at South Africa and see what is really happening there.

(2-11-02) Land Restoration in 3 Years-[Excerpt] Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday the country's programme to restore land to thousands of families evicted under apartheid would be completed in three years.

"We intend, within the next three years, to complete the land restitution process, which is a critical part of our land reform programme," Mbeki said in the text of a speech prepared for delivery to parliament. [End Excerpt]

French President Jacques Chirac, second right, shares a word with Poland's Prime Minister Leszek Miller, second left, on their way to meeting at the EU Summit in Barcelona, Friday, March 15, 2002. EU leaders and leaders of EU candidate countries met Friday for the first day of a two day summit to discuss finance, the Middle East and Zimbabwe. Standing right is French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and far left is Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair. (AP Photo/EFE, Luis Gene)

Well, he is correct ... South Africa isn't Zimabwe ; far MORE whites have been murdered and far MORE white farmers have been run off their farms, since 1994 ( when the ANC took power ) , than in the 22 years that Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe. It is also beyond the pale, that Mbeki intends to redistribute land, which was owned by no one, settled by no one, and lived on by no one, prior to the Afrikaners. Frankly, that is worse than giving land to a 14 year old thug ; which will probabl also happen in South Africa, as well.

Mugabe has gone farther, in this election, with the corruption, than Mandela , the ANC, and Mbeki ; but, now that they have a better blurprint, I doubt that they'll hold back ... next election. After all, the ANC has already murdered most of the white, far lefty South Africans, who backed them / helped them to gain power.

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