ZIMBABWE:President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition failed last week to agree a framework for talks to end Zimbabwe's crisis, the opposition said yesterday, but state media said negotiations would continue, writes Bill Corcoranin Johannesburg.
The first preliminary talks between the two sides since a disputed election were adjourned on Friday without agreement, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said. The two sides had been meeting in Pretoria to lay the groundwork for fully fledged talks.
Election-related violence that has killed 113 MDC activists since the first round of voting in March was continuing and this led to the talks stalemate, MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
Meanwhile, Russia and China's decision to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe's ruling elite has been described as "incomprehensible" by the British government.
The countries indicated on Saturday they would not support the resolution proposed by Britain and the US at last week's G8 summit in Japan because they believed the situation in the troubled southern African country did not pose a threat to world security.
Although nine of the 15 security council members supported the resolution, Russia and China are two of the council's five permanent members and so can reject a resolution even if it is passed by the majority.
British foreign secretary David Miliband said he was very disappointed that the council had failed to pass a strong and clear resolution on Zimbabwe.
"It'll appear incomprehensible to the people of Zimbabwe that Russia, which committed itself at the G8 to take further steps including introducing financial and other sanctions, should stand in the way of security council action," he said.
The Zimbabwean government welcomed the development, with information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu describing the resolution as an attempt to make Zimbabwean people suffer so they would turn against the government.
As well as a worldwide arms embargo the draft resolution also called for President Robert Mugabe and 13 senior Zanu-PF members to be banned from international travel and to have their overseas assets frozen. It is believed these 14 individuals are the guiding hands behind the widespread violence that has gripped the country in the run-up to, and aftermath of, the country's June 27th presidential run-off.
South Africa, whose president Thabo Mbeki has been asked by regional leaders to mediate in the crisis, also opposed the resolution saying sanctions would interfere with attempts to get the stakeholders to form a national unity government.
Yesterday, Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, openly criticised Mr Mugabe during a speech honouring former South African president Nelson Mandela, a week before his 90th birthday.
Ms Sirleaf painted an optimistic picture of Africa's future but said she could not ignore current troubles. She said it was her duty to express her solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe "as they search for solutions to the crisis in their country". The remark earned applause from Mr Mandela and a crowd of several hundred gathered in a community hall in Soweto.
Ms Sirleaf had been the first African leader to support UN sanctions against Zimbabwe's leaders, saying they would send a "strong message" that the world would not tolerate violence to retain power.
South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council has released a report claiming violence against MDC supporters has triggered a "parallel emergence of retaliatory violence by the opposition which, though still covert, appears to be gradually acquiring a more structured and programmatical character".
Unless resolved, the researchers believe the latest developments indicate that Zimbabwe is headed for further "unrest" and maybe "civil war". - ( Additional reporting by PA/Reuters)