African Union Welcomes Zimbabwe Accord

(Destin de l’Afrique)--The African Union welcomed the signing of an agreement by Zimbabwe’s ruling party and main opposition, as the U.S. said negotiations between the two sides should result in fresh elections.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai leader agreed to begin negotiations on power sharing. An agreement signed by the two leaders envisages the two sides reaching agreement on a unity government within two weeks. Talks will begin in Pretoria, Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman at the South African presidency, said in a telephone interview. The accord ‘marks a significant step in the efforts aimed at overcoming the crisis facing Zimbabwe and promoting national reconciliation in the country’,AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said in e-mailed statement in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Mugabe extended his 28-year rule of Zimbabwe after winning elections on June 27 in which he was the sole candidate. Tsvangirai withdrew from the vote after alleging his supporters were being targeted in a state-sponsored campaign of violence. The United Nations, U.S. and European countries consider Mugabe’s victory illegitimate. The U.S. and U.K. have led calls for sanctions against the country. Negotiations between Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the MDC should result in a new vote in the southern African nation, Gonzalo Gallegos, deputy spokesman at the U.S. State Department, said in an e-mailed statement from Washington .

Free, Fair Elections

U.S. officials want to see ‘an election that is free and fair and open, and that all parties can participate in without fear or aggressive acts against them’, Gallegos said. In the first round presidential election in March, Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe without gaining the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The MDC won a majority in the lower house of parliament in the legislative poll, the first time Zanu-PF hasn’t controlled the House of Assembly since 1980, when the country gained independence from Britain. African observers said the June 27 presidential runoff election wasn’t free or fair.

The agreement was also signed by a faction of the MDC, led by Arthur Mutambara, which will also take part in the negotiations, Ratshitanga said. The negotiations will be mediated by South Africa’s Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, he said. South African President Thabo Mbeki’s advisers Mojanku Gumbi and Frank Chikane will assist in the mediation. Mbeki was appointed by the 14-nation Southern African Development Community to help mediate an end to Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

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