Posted on 01/27/2003 9:16:22 AM PST by Clive
THE French president, Jacques Chirac, may fancy himself as an African expert or a friend of Africa. Last week, he appeared to have scored a remarkable feat of peace-making when he brought together the warring factions in the civil war in the Ivory Coast, a former French colony.
President Laurent Gbagbo’s government – unable to quell a rebellion in the northern part of the country after an attempted coup last September – agreed to a power-sharing arrangement with the rebels.
But anti-French demonstrations broke out in Abidjan soon after the accord was announced in Paris. Gbagbo’s people feel betrayed by the French, who have 2 500 troops in the former colony.
In the next few days Chirac and his government will know whether their intervention has brought permanent peace to the Ivory Coast, or sown the seeds of another civil war.
Chirac’s invitation to President Mugabe to attend a Franco- African summit next month may provide a more serious test for his so-called African expertise. His intentions may be obscure for the moment, but if reports of a deal with the British are confirmed, then the motive is clearly sinister.
Chirac should be careful not to end up being accused of joining what many Zimbabweans now consider to be a grand conspiracy against their legitimate right to choose their leaders.
To invite Mugabe to a gathering of Francophone leaders is controversial enough. But to then do a deal with the British to continue sanctions against the Mugabe leadership in exchange for that shows vile cynicism.
The French have always seemed reluctant to join other members in the European Union (EU) in toughening sanctions against Mugabe and his coterie of arrogant fellow rulers.
This may be part of their old ideological feud with the British, but it ignores the basic cause of the discontent against Mugabe among most Zimbabweans.
Not only were they outraged that Mugabe’s party killed, maimed and raped innocent people to implement his hare- brained land reform programme. In two successive elections, he and his party used violence and other unsavoury methods to win against an opposition whose leaders would not sanction a tit-for-tat response.Today, because of his half-baked policies, there are more than six million people facing death from starvation in the country.
The EU was unanimous in deciding to punish Mugabe and his government for what they had done. But the cracks in this EU wall of unity have been appearing with disturbing frequency lately. In Brussels last year, the Belgian government inexplicably invited two ministers on the banned EU list to attend a meeting with the African, Caribbean and Pacific group. There was massive pressure from other EU members, particularly the British, for the conference not to be held as long as the two men would be present.
The venue had to be changed and although Mugabe’s government hailed this as a victory, there was no doubt that many EU members felt exactly the same way.
Now, it is the French who are trying to punch even bigger holes in the EU wall of anti-Mugabe sanctions. Many Zimbabweans must be so frustrated that they must wish the EU would abandon the sanctions altogether, instead of continuing with this hypocrisy.
It is not too difficult to see the hand of the South Africans and the Nigerians in this plot to weaken even further the EU stance against the Mugabe government. As the leaders of what many now see as the grand conspiracy against the people of Zimbabwe, Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo have a lot to answer for.
They have the clout to influence peaceful change now, but have spurned it for reasons related to dark memories of the Cold War.
Eventually, when the Zimbabwe imbroglio can no longer be solved peacefully, the two men must bear some responsibility for the bloodshed.
Do you know what the issues are here?
This is not about the EU, it is about France pretending that Africans are not starving to death.
Take your imbecilities to another forum.
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