US increases pressure on Zimbabwe's Mugabe
Still no result from the March 29th Zimbabwe elections
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Friday, 25, Apr 2008 09:18
The US has repeated its calls on Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe to step down in favour of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
US African envoy Jendayi Frazer told officials in South Africa that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader appeared to have won the March 29th election, the AFP news agency reported.
Results of the presidential election have not yet been released and Ms Frazer believes the evidence seen so far – that a run-off is required and that Mr Tsvangirai may even be an outright winner – justifies her demands.
"Normally when you contest for president, you're finished if you lose. That's how democracies work," AFP quoted her as saying.
"You don't need a government of national unity, you simply have to respect the result of the election. There may need to be a political solution, a negotiated solution… but any government should be led by Morgan Tsvangirai."
She made clear her opposition to a run-off vote because "the political space in Zimbabwe has closed".
Her comments come after a Chinese ship laden with arms for Zimbabwe was ordered to turn back by Beijing. It had arrived in South Africa but workers there had refused to unload its cargo.