SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe entered an African summit accompanied by the meeting's host yesterday, a sign that African leaders won't shun him despite Western demands that they take a tough stance over his re-election in a tainted ballot.
But behind the scenes, some leaders were pushing for Mugabe to share power with his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, who dropped out of Friday's runoff election after the alleged state-sponsored killings and beatings of his supporters.
And the African Union's own election observers concluded yesterday that the vote “fell short” of the organization's standards.
While many African countries – including regional powerhouse South Africa – were unwilling to publicly condemn Mugabe, criticism by the United States and Europe only mounted.
France said yesterday that it considered Mugabe's government “illegitimate,” and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the African Union to reject the result of the runoff. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said yesterday that the United States might introduce a Security Council resolution this week to impose formal sanctions against members of the Mugabe government.
Zimbabwe's longtime ruler basked in the opportunity at the AU to show regional recognition of his victory, a day after he was sworn in as president for a sixth term. He entered the conference hall alongside his host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in a symbolic gesture of his status.
During speeches in this Red Sea resort, most AU leaders spoke of the “challenges” in Zimbabwe and none said anything harsh about Mugabe.
Key African leaders have long had close ties to Mugabe, 84, renowned as a campaigner against white rule and colonialism. They are also reluctant to be seen as backing the West – former colonial rulers – against a fellow African, and many can't claim democratic governments in their own countries.
Not all were silent.
In Nairobi, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Zimbabwe should be suspended from the African Union. “They should suspend him and send peace forces to Zimbabwe to ensure free and fair elections,” Odinga said. Senegal's foreign minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, complained of the hesitancy to openly pressure Mugabe.
According to the official tally of Friday's election, Mugabe won about 85 percent of the ballot, but his opponent, Tsvangirai, pulled out of the race days before the voting because of widespread violence and intimidation, he said. Tsvangirai, 56, took refuge in the Dutch Embassy in Harare five days before the election.
Tsvangirai won 48 percent of the vote to Mugabe's 43 percent in the first round of the presidential election March 29. In the parliamentary elections on the same day, the opposition party won control of the lower house.
Each man wants any negotiations to be based on his own electoral arithmetic – Tsvangirai's from March 29 and Mugabe's from June 27.
