Zimbabwe - an African problem, to be solved by Africans:
A defiant Robert Mugabe has sailed unchallenged through the first test of his presidency by his peers.
Freshly sworn in after a single candidate election, he received a leader’s welcome when he strode into the African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday and emerged unfazed, his authority intact.
He dined at a lavish luncheon given by his Egyptian hosts, hugged heads of state and other diplomats in the corridors and stayed at the Peninsula Hotel, one of the most luxurious in this Red Sea town. “Mr Mugabe is staying there as a courtesy by the Egyptian Government,” a hotel spokesman said...
The African Union’s public response to Mr Mugabe’s seizure of power was seen as a key measure of the organisation’s commitment to democracy after Zimbabwe’s violent run-off elections. However, protest from African leaders at the summit was muted, even as Western leaders from France, the United States and Canada joined Britain in ratcheting up pressure on the organisation to reject Mr Mugabe’s authority. [...]
African leaders sidestepped any criticism of tainted elections. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania said: “We would like to congratulate the Zimbabwean people for their successes but we would also like to express our commiserations for their suffering.”
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