Farmer, Attacker Shot in Zimbabwe
Friday May 12 6:04 AM ET
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - A white farmer and an attacker were shot and
wounded in a gunbattle on the farmer's land southwest of Harare, farmer's
representatives said today.
John Weeks was shot in the stomach late Thursday during an attack by five
men on his farm in the Beatrice district, about 30 miles from Harare.
Another farmer in Beatrice, Alan Dunn, was bludgeoned to death Sunday by
attackers linked to ruling party militants who have occupied more than 1,000
white-owned farms across Zimbabwe. Dunn was the third white farmer killed since
February.
Weeks was in stable condition at a Harare hospital, said David Hasluck,
director of the Commercial Farmers Union. Hasluck said Weeks shot one of the
men, whose condition was unknown because he was taken away by his companions
Hasluck blamed the occupiers for the attack.
``It's farm invasions as far as I'm concerned,'' he said.
The farmers' union confirmed the latest violence hours before its leaders
and officials of a liberation war veterans group that has led occupations were
to meet with President Robert Mugabe.
The meeting was aimed at informing Mugabe of the groups' joint tour of
occupied farms, which was meant to calm the violence.
However, continued attacks and further demands by squatters for white-owned
farmland have dampened hopes for a quick end to the crisis.
The occupations began in February, after the government lost a
constitutional referendum that would have entrenched President Robert Mugabe's
powers and allowed it to seize white farms without paying compensation.
Mugabe's opponents say he encouraged the violent occupations to punish
farmers and their workers for supporting the main opposition group, the Movement
for Democratic Change.
The three farmers killed were known supporters of the opposition.
Roy Bennett, a farmer in the eastern Chimanimani district, evacuated his
property Thursday after being told by occupiers to renounce his affiliation to
the MDC. Bennett had volunteered to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the
opposition, which has not revealed the names of its candidates for fear of
reprisals
At least 18 people have died in political violence ahead of parliamentary
elections expected to be called for next month.
The MDC is seen as the first real challenge to Mugabe's rule since he led
the nation to independence from Britain in 1980.
Zimbabwe's Economy Reeling Amid Shortages and
Farm Seizures
Bloomberg
News
May 12 2000 1:49AM
Harare, Zimbabwe, May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabweans have taken to sleeping
overnight at gas stations along Simon Mazorodze Road in Harare so they will be
first in line when fuel for their cooking stoves goes on sale each morning.
The queues are just one outgrowth of Zimbabwe's worst economic crisis since
President Robert Mugabe came to power 20 years ago. A foreign currency squeeze
that began even before bands of squatters began seizing white-owned farms has
cut imports, causing shortages of oil and other raw materials.
There is now concern shortages could spread to staple foods such as bread
and milk, even though foreign loans and revenue from tobacco exports may prevent
the exhaustion of foreign currency reserves for several weeks.
``We're creeping closer to the day when we will no longer be able to buy
basic things,'' said John Robertson, a Harare-based economist who specializes in
southern Africa. ``We're talking about a matter of weeks.''
With spiraling consumer prices and industrial stagnation, the economy's on
course to shrink at least 5 percent this year, while unemployment has jumped to
about 55 percent from 45 percent three years ago.
The occupation of more than 1,100 white-owned farms by government allies
and associated violence that has killed at least 15 people is reducing
agricultural output, which accounts for 40 percent of exports.
Mining, which provides about 45 percent of foreign exchange, also has been
hurt. Delta Gold Ltd., Australia's No. 4 gold miner, has said it reduced
activity at the Eureka mine in Zimbabwe due to rising prices for diesel and
other goods. In the quarter ended March 31, cash costs at Eureka were A$760
($441) an ounce, compared to A$285 at mines outside Zimbabwe, Delta said.
Tourism
The violence is also scaring off foreign visitors. Tourism, which accounts
for 5 percent of the economy, is drying up, and many tour operators are closing,
according to the Zimbabwean Tourist Authority. The industry employed 180,000
people last year.
Many Zimbabwean executives are reluctant to talk openly about their
country's plight. Several company executives spoke to Bloomberg News only on
condition of anonymity.
The government has tried to protect its foreign exchange reserves --- about
$300 million in January -- by charging a 25 percent premium on withdrawals of
hard currency and through loans, such as the $60 million lent by European and
Middle Eastern banks to fund fuel purchases. That runs out in June.
Zimbabwe is negotiating for South Africa to provide $126 million, either
through a loan or by backing a bond sale, to keep it going a few months longer.
This support isn't likely to come soon.
Any bond sale would have to be approved by parliament, and there is no such
proposal before the government at this time, a spokesman for the South African
Finance Department said. Zimbabwe is already in technical default on a loan from
the World Bank.
Some Funds
Still, some funds are arriving.
Tobacco exports are starting to pick up as farmers begin selling their
crops now that hopes have faded for a devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar that
would have boosted prices in local currency. About 4.5 million kilograms of
tobacco have been sold this year, 41 percent less than at this time last year.
Access to some foreign currency will let Zimbabwe keep importing
electricity from the foreign suppliers that provide 45 percent of the country's
needs. It will also allow oil to continue trickling into the country, preventing
a collapse of the transport system.
Jeff Radebe, South Africa's public enterprise minister, said Monday he sees
``no problem whatsoever'' with the $16 million Zimbabwe owes Eskom, his
country's state-owned power utility. About $14.4 million of the debt has been
converted into a loan that should be repaid by the end of this month.
In December, international oil companies suspended fuel shipments to
Zimbabwe because of the government's inability to pay.
Harder Times
Times can only get harder for ordinary Zimbabweans.
With inflation at more than 50 percent this year, companies unable to meet
rising wage costs are being forced to fire staff. Three years ago, the U.S.
embassy in Harare estimated inflation at 20 percent.
Low oil supplies are causing a dearth of petrochemicals used to make
plastic packaging for milk, and the country's 320,000-ton annual wheat harvest
could be cut in half as land invasions discourage farmers from planting,
Robertson said.
``That would badly upset the morale of the people,'' he said. ``These are
staple foods.''
In 1998, as many as eight people died in riots against rises in prices for
cornmeal, bread and other foods. The surge followed a plunge in the value of the
Zimbabwean dollar after Mugabe announced plans for land acquisitions and
guaranteed pensions for war veterans.
Yesterday, Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change threatened
to launch a general strike against the government and a boycott of elections
that must be held by mid- August under the constitution.
Exchange Rate
In an effort to stem inflation, the country's exchange rate has been pegged
at 38 Zimbabwean dollars to the U.S. dollar since January 1999. The rate had
risen steadily from an average of about 8.2 in 1994 to 40 at the end of 1998.
One Harare-based business owner said the artificially high exchange rate
has contributed to a 10 percent to 15 percent decline in his exports of
industrial equipment.
While a weaker currency would boost exports by making Zimbabwean products
cheaper to foreign buyers, it would increase the burden of servicing the
nation's $5 billion foreign debt.
It would also prompt another surge in consumer prices, something the people
sleeping along Simon Mazorodze Road -- named for a founding member of Zimbabwe's
ruling party -- can little afford.
Africa could look after itself,
given a chance
By John Simpson - The Telegraph 5 May
2000
IN Mozambique the horror of flooding is turning to the more familiar horror
of starvation. In Zimbabwe an autocratic president plays politics with people's
lives. In Nigeria the terrible possibility of a new civil war opens up. Africa,
it seems, is living up to the worst expectations Europeans habitually have of
it.
It is a picture that has been 30 years in the making. Sometimes the fault
has lain with bad and irresponsible government, sometimes the problems have been
the result of ethnic ferocities that were only silenced, not ended, by a few
decades of occasionally perfunctory colonial rule.
Flicking through the newspapers and watching the news on television, we are
often tempted to assume that all these things are in some way linked: that
Africa is inherently incapable of running its own affairs in peace and
prosperity, that it is a continent-wide basket case; and that the only answer to
its problems is for us to dig deeper into our pockets and bail it out yet again.
In Zimbabwe, the invasion of white farms by black squatters is something
that President Robert Mugabe has encouraged in an attempt to continue ruling his
country by dividing it even further. His hope is that by appealing to the
land-hunger and past resentments of the rural poor he will be able to swing
April's presidential election his way, and recapture the control that he has
steadily been losing for the past couple of years. Here the problem is bad
government, pure and simple.
In Nigeria, a huge and disparate federation is showing serious signs of
strain once more. The decision a fortnight ago by several predominantly Islamic
states in northern Nigeria to introduce the full rigours of sharia law - the
segregation of men and women in public, amputation for theft and other crimes,
flogging for adultery - led to angry rioting by the Christian minority, most of
whom are originally from the south of the country. Theoretically the sharia
would not be binding on non-Muslims, but in practice life would certainly have
been more difficult for Christians, and they resented it.
The rioting left 500 people dead. In revenge, there were killings in the
south-eastern part of the country - the Ibo heartland. This is uncomfortably
similar to what happened before the appalling Biafran war broke out in 1967; and
the north-south division within Nigeria, which follows religious as well as
ethnic lines, is potentially very dangerous. Maybe President Olusegun Obasanjo,
elected in an impressively democratic fashion a year ago, has managed to head
off trouble by persuading the northern states to shelve the sharia plans; but
the danger is certainly there.
Which leaves Mozambique. No amount of good government, no degree of
internal peace and harmony, could have staved off the flood waters which have
devastated the country. But, it has come at a critical time for the country's
recovery. In 2000, for the first time in years, Mozambique was to have been
self-sufficient in food.
Africa's three big crises have nothing in common except the fact that they
are taking place in the same continent. There is no link between flooding, old
ethnic and religious tensions, and the efforts of a small-time autocrat to
divert the discontent of his people.There is nothing uniquely unfortunate about
Africa.
Instead, there are some specific long-term things we in the outside world
can do. One is to see that Britain's proposal for lifting Mozambique's debt
burden is taken up throughout the developed world, and then extended to every
other poor country in Africa. Often the repayment of debts first incurred during
the Seventies takes up more of a country's annual budget than education or
health.
The second is to put increasing pressure on Africa's remaining autocrats to
make them fall into line with the dictates of good government. The Commonwealth
is already starting to take a lead in this. A well-governed Africa, free of
crippling debt, may never be entirely safe from natural disaster. But at least
it will be able to look after itself properly.
John Simpson is the World Affairs Editor of the BBC
Zimbabwe's Mugabe Meets Veterans And Farmer
Friday May 12 6:16 AM ET - By Manoah Esipisu
HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe began talks on
Friday with representatives of white commercial farmers and the black war
veterans who have occupied hundreds of their farms.
It is the second meeting involving Mugabe since the violent seizure of
hundreds of commercial farms by self-styled veterans of the 1970s liberation war
against white rule began three months ago.
The militants' leader, Chenjerai Hunzvi, said on Thursday that progress had
been made at talks with the farmers earlier in the day, but made no comment as
he arrived at Mugabe's State House office with three aides on Friday.
The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) delegation was led by chief negotiator
Nick Swanepoel, who speaks for the country's 4,500 mainly white large-scale
farmers.
The three sides made no comment before beginning their talks, but a CFU
spokesman said on Thursday that negotiations would continue until the violence
on the farms and new invasions had ended in line with a commitment the veterans
made in late April but have failed to honor.
Pressure for a deal between farmers and veterans has intensified since
another farmer died on Monday after being severely beaten -- the 19th person
killed in the crisis.
On Friday another white farmer was shot and wounded in Beatrice, south of
Harare, but he appeared to tbe the victim of a robbery unrelated to the
political violence.
``The talks are going on at two levels, local and national, and they are
going to go on until we get some kind of agreement,'' the spokesman said.
The CFU said five more farms had been invaded overnight while farmers and
farm workers said there were further reports of widespread intimidation of
farmers. With parliamentary elections expected in June, Josaya Hungwe, governor
of Masvingo province some 185 miles south of Harare, gave white farmers a blunt
message on Thursday.
``We are not happy with the attitude of some white commercial farmers who
are supporting the opposition,'' he said at a rally on an occupied farm attended
by several white farmers.
``We do not want another war. If you want peace you should support me and
the ruling party. If you want trouble, then vote for another party,'' he said.
White Farmer Quits White
farmer Roy Bennett said on Thursday he would leave his 7,000-acre coffee and
cattle holding in Chimanimani after a group of around 60 militants occupied it
and took his wife Heather hostage.
``It's impossible for me to farm under these circumstances. I will move my
property from the farm and they can have the farm that they have taken,'' he
told reporters.
Police spokesman Bothwell Mugariri said a woman had been raped at a rural
school northeast of Harare by men who accused her teacher husband of supporting
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said on Thursday that he had
appointed General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former Nigerian head of state, to
lead a team of observers for a parliamentary election due by August.
McKinnon said he would visit Harare on Monday and Tuesday for talks with
Mugabe and would be accompanied by an ``advance team'' from the observer group.
Opposition critics accuse Mugabe and his government of using the invasions
to intimidate potential opposition supporters and voters ahead of the polls.
Many of those killed have been overt supporters of the MDC, which
represents the biggest challenge yet to the rule of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.
British Minister for Africa Peter Hain said if a free election was not
held, ``the collapse in external and internal confidence would lead to a more
serious situation.''
``It would mean a desperate crisis for Zimbabwe even more tragic than the
present,'' he told reporters during a visit to the Zambian capital Lusaka.
The Insider The daily for the
busy executive- Issue Number 48- May 12-14, 2000
Wounded Zim farmer repels attack
A white farmer and an attacker were shot and wounded in a
gunbattle on the farmer's land southwest of Harare, farmers' representatives
said on Friday. Farmer John Weeks was shot in the stomach late on Thursday
during an attack on his farm in the Beatrice district, about 50km from Harare.
Another farmer in Beatrice, Alan Dunn, was bludgeoned to death on Sunday by
attackers linked to the ruling party militants who have occupied more than 1 000
white-owned land across Zimbabwe. Dunn was the third white farmer killed since
the violent occupations started in February. Weeks was in stable condition in a
Harare hospital Friday after suffering a heavy loss of blood, said David
Hasluck, director of the Commercial Farmers Union. Weeks shot one of the five
armed men who attacked him. The man was taken away by his companions and his
condition was not known, Hasluck said. Hasluck said the occupiers were
responsible for the attack. "It's farm invasions as far as I'm concerned," he
said. The farmers' union confirmed the latest violence hours before its leaders
and leaders of a liberation war veterans group that has led occupations were to
meet with President Robert Mugabe. The meeting was aimed at informing Mugabe of
the groups' joint tour of occupied farms, which was meant to calm the violence.
The three farmers killed were known supporters of the opposition. Roy Bennett, a
farmer in the eastern Chimanimani district, evacuated his property Thursday
after being told by occupiers to renounce his affiliation to the MDC. Bennett
had volunteered to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the opposition, which
has not revealed the names of its candidates for fear of reprisals
.Independent Online
Zim vets abducted teachers - witnesses
Fifteen schoolteachers were abducted and severely beaten by war
veterans in Mudzi, about 160km north-east of here, on Wednesday in intensifying
political violence in the run-up to Zimbabwe's general elections due before
August. Witnesses said the teachers were forced to stop lessons on Wednesday
afternoon at Chimukoko Secondary School and Kudzwe Primary School in the Mudzi
area. They were then led to a secluded area by a group of 60 war veterans, who
wielded axes and pangas, and were severely beaten. The war veterans immediately
forced the closure of Chimukoko Hospital in the area to make sure that none of
the beaten teachers would seek medical treatment. Staff at the hospital had to
flee from the health institution for safety. One of the badly beaten teachers,
who cannot be named because of government regulations that bar civil servants
from talking to the Press, later said he and nine of his colleagues had been
freed by the war veterans after heavy overnight beatings.
The remaining
five, who the war veterans accused of being staunch Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) supporters, were still in captivity late last night. The teacher
said he had been driven to Harare by well wishers to seek the help of human
rights groups and other organisations on behalf of his captured colleagues. His
other beaten colleagues had immediately abandoned the school and gone to seek
medical help in the towns. The teacher said two of the five teachers still in
captivity had been so badly beaten that they were still unconscious when others
had been released. A relative of one of the captured teachers, Petros Muchenje,
said no help had been obtained from police officials at a police post in Mudzi,
who had been asked to intervene. "It's as if the police were under strict
instructions to ignore pleas for help," he said. Media reports say the war
veterans have been deployed around different constituencies to intimidate
opposition party supporters. Veteran leader Chenjerai Hunzvi is on record as
saying the war veterans had been allocated about R3,64-million by the government
to secure Zanu-PF's re-election. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his
earlier threat to boycott elections and vowed that his party would contest the
elections. Continuous meetings between war veterans leaders and the Commercial
Farmers' Union have failed to halt the violence, which has so far resulted in
the killing of 19 people. - Star Foreign Service
'Violence endangers fair elections'
Zimbabwean state-appointed body warned on Thursday that any
hope of holding free and fair general elections could fade away if mounting
pre-election political violence was anything to go by. The Electoral Supervisory
Commission (ESC), using diplomatic terms, said it was "greatly concerned", while
the main opposition party contemplated boycotting the polls in protest at the
violence in which several of its supporters have been killed. "If what is
reported in the media is anything to go by, then the trend is such that we may
soon reach a situation which is not conducive to the holding of free and fair
election," the commission said, noting with concern the 18 deaths reported so
far in the run-up to elections, a date for which has not yet been announced.
Zimbabwe is due to hold its fourth democratic legislative elections within a
month or two and the government has said they will go ahead with or without the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC, citing spiralling
violence and what it called President Robert Mugabe's "tyranny", indicated
Wednesday it was envisaging a campaign of mass action, including pulling out of
the election race, against the growing "anarchy" in the country. "How can a
democratic party like the MDC compete against a violent, dictatorial and
increasingly desperate government like that of the Zanu-PF?" MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai asked, referring to Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front. But the Zimbabwe government on Thurday explained the
opposition's moves as "chickening out" of the race in the face of its waning
support. Information Minister Chen Chimutengwende said the six-month-old MDC had
become too confident as if it was already in power, but then had of late lost
the support it drew from whites and blacks alike. "They were sure they were
going to win and to save their face they are now chickening out," Chimutengwende
said. The MDC has accused the state of sponsoring violence, but Chimutengwende
has refuted the allegations, counter-accusing the opposition of being sponsored
by local whites and "Western imperialist nations", particularly Britain, to
finance "anti-Zanu-PF violence or thuggery". The minister said most whites who
financed the party had decided to stay neutral while blacks have stopped
supporting it since it turned out to be a "puppet of the whites," he said.
–Mail and Guardian
The 'train drivers' giving Mugabe a headache
To many Zimbabweans, Morgan Tsvangirai is nothing short of a
hero. The man stands up to a repressive government. He denounces corruption,
defends workers' interests and rights, and chairs the movement to reform the
Constitution. For his troubles he is bashed on the head and needs stitches. The
attack appears ordered by the ruling party, Zanu-PF. A dozen members of his
party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), have been killed, some
viciously tortured. Undaunted, Tsvangirai (pronounced Changarai) is this week
campaigning in Masvingo. The trade unions cancelled May Day celebrations for
fear of violence, but Tsvangirai still addressed two rallies in Harare.
Exhausted and hoarse at the end of the day, he told the Mail & Guardian: "We
knew Zanu-PF would get violent but not to the extent of these gruesome killings.
We are still committed to fighting the elections on political discourse, not
violence. As long as we have the people's confidence, we go on." Tsvangirai was
born in drought-prone Buhera, south-eastern Zimbabwe, in 1952, the eldest of
nine children. His father was a bricklayer. A bright student at Gokomere
mission school, he quit studying in 1972 to support his siblings. He
worked at a textile mill in Mutare, then at a nickel mine in Bindura. In 1980 he
became a union organiser. He rose through the ranks and became secretary general
of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) in 1988, a post he still holds.
Under his leadership the ZCTU ceased to be an arm of the ruling party and got
teeth. In the early 1990s the ZCTU challenged economic policy and lack of
democracy. In well-organised national strikes workers defied the government to
protest against erosion of their salaries, runaway inflation, rampant corruption
and widespread poverty. In 1998, the National Constitutional Assembly named him
chair -- a recognition of his stature as leader of the opposition. He became a
household name, a symbol of resistance. When he was attacked in December 1998,
workers spontaneously downed their tools. Tsvangirai's gift is to articulate a
vision and direction that captures people's imaginations. He is a powerful
public speaker who delivers memorable quotes, such as: "[President Robert]
Mugabe is a demented bus driver, speeding downhill at 150km an hour on a bus
without brakes, and we all are the passengers." He is married with six children.
By Tsvangirai's side for the past 10 years is Gibson Sibanda. Lesser-known,
Sibanda is a key element in trade union and party dynamics. The quiet, affable
Sibanda brokers negotiations, finds middle ground and builds consensus.
Tsvangirai is more authoritative. Sibanda, more consultative, is the
coalition-builder behind the scenes, the one who has time to listen. Together
they bring ethnic balance -- Sibanda is Ndebele, Tsvangirai is Shona. Sibanda
was born in 1944 in Filabusi, in Matabeleland. Among other jobs, his father was
a miner in South Africa. An only child, Sibanda is schooled up to Cambridge
level certificates. In 1965 he joined the railways of Zimbabwe. By 1970 he was
an active unionist. He joined Zapu, became its welfare secretary and was jailed
by the Ian Smith regime between 1976 and 1979.
In 1984 Sibanda was elected president of the five amalgamated
railway unions; first vice-president of the ZCTU in 1988 and its president the
following year. He still holds the position today. People who have worked with
the two men in the ZCTU, the National Constitutional Assembly and the MDC say
both work well in teams, know how to listen and make compromises. This appears
to be true -- in spite of internal divisions and many attempts by the Central
Intelligence Organisation to infiltrate and provoke divisions, the three
organisations have remained strong and united. In leather jackets, caps, and
checkered shirts, the two appear as a refreshing alternative to Zanu-PF's
impeccable Savile Row suits. Both are avid readers of history and social
science. Both enjoy the company of academics, and many prominent scholars and
lawyers have joined the MDC. Mugabe has dismissed the union leaders for lacking
university degrees. Replies Sibanda: "With something like seven honorary
degrees, Mugabe has wrecked the economy." When Mugabe described the unionists as
"mere train drivers", Tsvangirai laughed: "At least a train conductor kept the
train on the tracks." Analysts point out that 10 years at the helm of trade
unions, combined with the experience at the National Constitutional Assembly,
are better preparation for democratic governance than ruling a military
movement, like Mugabe. The two seem above board. Zimbabwe's intelligence
services have tried to find something dishonest about them, but have not been
able, or we would have heard about it. The MDC is the only credible alternative
to Mugabe. Why is the African National Congress government so wary of it? One
reason is that Mugabe has successfully projected the image of the MDC as a party
ruled by whites. This is not true. All the top six office bearers are black. Of
the 30-member executive, three are white. It is true that, for the first time
since independence in 1980, whites have dabbled in politics. But so have
hundreds of thousands of blacks who did not bother before for lack of choice.
Internal and regional politics also count. Says Sibanda: "The ANC has its own
problems with [the Congress of South African Trade Unions] and does not want to
encourage a trade union-based party. While [the Southern African Development
Community] is an old man's club, newcomers are not welcome." – The Mail &
Guardian.
Zimbabwe Agrees Commission to
Oversee Land Transfers, AFP Says
Bloomberg News
May 12 2000 12:00PM
Harare, Zimbabwe, May 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Zimbabwean government and war
veterans agreed after three days of talks with farmers' representatives to set
up a land commission to oversee the peaceful transfer of white-owned land in
Zimbabwe to landless blacks, Agence France-Presse reported, citing David
Hasluck, director of the country's Commercial Farmers Union. The proposal was
agreed at a three-hour meeting between President Robert Mugabe, the CFU and war
of liberation veterans who have invaded about 1,200 commercial farms since
February, the report said. The CFU will hold talks on Monday with Joseph Msika,
Zimbabwe's vice- president, during which the establishment of the commission
will be discussed further, Hasluck said.
Farm invasions and associated violence have led to the deaths of at least
15 people in Zimbabwe in recent weeks.
UN Says Permature to talk about appointing Zimbabwe
Mediator
Johannesburg, May 12 (Bloomberg) -- While United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan is trying to find a way to defuse tensions between Zimbabwe and the
United Kingdom related to the land dispute in the southern African country, the
UN believes it would be ``premature'' to appoint an official from the
organization to mediate the issue, the Star reported, without identifying its
source. Any official appointed may not be designated a mediator, which could
ease concerns about interference in Zimbabwe's internal affairs. Meanwhile, Don
McKinnon, secretary-general of the Commonwealth of mainly English- speaking
nations, said he will visit the capital city of Harare on May 15 and 16 for
talks with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, accompanied by an advance team
from a group which plans to observe upcoming elections, according to the report.
South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday that he was ``certain
that the route that's been taken by ourselves, by other countries, by the United
Nations'' would produce results in resolving the recent problems in
Zimbabwe.