PM calls for action on Zimbabwe "international" emergency
The prime minister has expressed concern over the Cholera outbreak and human rights situation in Zimbabwe
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Saturday, 06, Dec 2008 06:22
Prime minister Gordon Brown has called for action to be taken to solve the "international emergency" in Zimbabwe.
The southern African country is suffering from hyper inflation and food shortages and over 500 people have now died of Cholera, a water-borne disease that has been eradicated in other parts of the world.
Mr Brown said there was no effective government in the country that was either willing or able to help its citizens which meant that there was a "duty" to support the Zimbabwean people. He stated that more international aid would be sent to the country to assist thos is need.
"This is now an international rather than a national emergency. International because disease crosses borders. International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken. There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people.
"International because - not least in the week of the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights - we must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough," he added.
The prime minister's statement comes as African and international leaders called on Mr Mugabe to step down.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga and Nobel laureate and anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu have all called for Mr Mugabe's resignation over the crisis.