African Union urged to take stern measures against Mugabe

By Tichaona Sibanda
29 June 2008

Most Zimbabweans believe the African Union should intervene to resolve the crisis in the country and there are many calls on the African body to unite in rejecting Robert Mugabe’s new term as president.

Political analyst Isaac Dziya said the AU should be tough with Mugabe, saying the credibility of the African body was at stake, considering that most of the world leaders have discredited the elections.

Dziya said the AU should be encouraged to take a cue from what the U.S plans to do next week, which is to introduce a UN resolution seeking tough action against Zimbabwe to send ‘a strong message of deterrence’ to the regime - according to the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

‘The AU can start by calling for new free and fair elections that are monitored by the international community, after which they should consider sanctions against Mugabe if he refuses to comply,’ Dziya said.
But on Sunday China balked at US calls for a UN arms embargo on Zimbabwe, despite an appeal by Rice for immediate strong international action to end the political violence.

Reports said Rice and her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, met in Beijing to discuss US plans to introduce both an arms embargo and a travel ban on Mugabe’s regime.

Rice told a press conference that the situation in the country had deteriorated to a very grave level. ‘We believe that it is really now time for the international community to act strongly, but we are consulting about what measures might be taken,’ she said.