The African Union (AU) has called on Zimbabwe's political parties to enter talks aimed at establishing a government of national unity, news agencies reported late Tuesday. In a report from the AU summit being held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, Agence-France Presse quoted unnamed officials as saying that after two hours of debate, African heads of government had adopted a resolution encouraging Zimbabwe's leaders "to initiate dialogue with a view to promoting peace [and] stability."
In its report from the summit, Reuters interpreted the resolution as "a rare AU intervention in an internal political dispute and an unprecedented rebuff to [President Robert] Mugabe." But the agency said the resolution was not as strongly-worded as some nations had wanted.
Brilliant. Just brilliant. What do you get when you cross a half-way respectable bunch of politicans (the MDC) with a bunch of rapacious thugs (Bob, ZANU-PF and the generals)? A bunch of respectably dead politicans, of course. Compromising with evil people either makes you dead or makes you one of them. Choose. | Botswana reportedly wanted Mugabe banned from African Union and Southern African Development Community meetings. Vice President Mompati Merafhe said allowing him to take part gave "unqualified legitimacy to a process which cannot be considered legitimate."
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