Posted on 05/13/2008 11:45:39 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
HARARE (AFP) - The UN warned on Tuesday that post-election violence in Zimbabwe was rising to near crisis levels ahead of a planned presidential run-off, with opposition supporters bearing the brunt of attacks.
As opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai prepared to return home to contest the election against President Robert Mugabe, his hopes the ballot would be held later this month in a peaceful atmosphere appeared to be wishful thinking.
With Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change claiming 32 of its supporters have been killed since voting on March 29, the United Nations resident representative in Zimbabwe said most of the violence was directed against followers of the opposition, although the MDC was not blameless.
"There is an emerging pattern of political violence inflicted mainly but not exclusively on rural supporters of the MDC," Agustino Zacarias told reporters, adding that there were "indications that the level of violence is escalating ... and could reach crisis levels."
Announcing plans to return home this week, Tsvangirai said at a news conference on Saturday that he would only participate in the run-off if there was a complete end to unrest.
He also called for a revamp of the electoral commission and the deployment of international peacekeepers and foreign observers, but these demands have been brushed aside by the government.
"The United Nations country team urges all political leaders across the political divide to unequivocally renounce politically-motivated violence," added Zacarias, a Mozambican diplomat.
Keen to see evidence of the attacks on opposition supporters with their own eyes, a group of Western ambassadors visited a number of hospitals on Tuesday where they chatted with victims.
"I think it is absolutely urgent that the entire world knows what's happening in Zimbabwe," US Ambassador James McGee told an AFP correspondent accompanying the diplomats.
On a visit to one of the hospitals, McGee became embroiled in a stand-off with four armed police who tried to prevent him from leaving the grounds before relenting after around 10 minutes.
The post-election tension has been mounting by the day, with an opposition lawmaker and the country's two most senior trade unionists among those who are currently in custody.
Despite complaining of violent intimidation against its supporters, the MDC insisted Tsvangirai would be home by the weekend and will address an opposition rally on Sunday to kickstart his campaign to unseat Mugabe.
"We are certainly going back this weekend. We may even be back before then," his spokesman George Sibotshiwe told AFP.
The United States has called for Mugabe's government to guarantee the safety of Tsvangirai -- who is threatened by a treason charge and was badly beaten in police custody in March last year -- when he arrives back in Harare.
The authorities should allow in international media as well as provide "some type of security and guarantees for Morgan Tsvangirai's safety," Jendayi Frazer, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told reporters.
Results from the first-round presidential poll were delayed by the electoral commission for five weeks and no date has been given for the run-off even though the law says it should take place within 21 days of the first-round results being announced.
Mugabe, in power since the country's independence in 1980, lost by 43.2 percent to 47.9 percent to Tsvangirai in the first presidential poll.
A one-time regional role model, Zimbabwe's economy has been in meltdown since the start of a land reform programme at the turn of the decade which saw thousands of white-owned farms seized.
Inflation now stands at over 165,000 percent, unemployment at more than 80 percent and even basics such as cooking oil and bread are in scarce supply.
Opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters from rural areas, displaced after post-election violence, camp at their party headquarters in Harare May 12, 2008. Zimbabwe will not invite election observers from Western countries to monitor a presidential run-off unless they remove sanctions, state media said on Monday, rejecting opposition demands. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo (ZIMBABWE)
A file photo taken in April 2008 shows Zimbabwe's then President Robert Mugabe delivering a speech. Cash-strapped Zimbabwe has paid 650,000 dollars (420,000 euros) to the African Development Bank (AfDB) to reduce its foreign debt but still owes large amounts in arrears, the bank said Monday. (AFP/File/Alexander Joe)
Coming to the USA if Barack Hussein Obama is elected in November.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe sees off South African President Thabo Mbeki at Harare Airport May 9. Zimbabwe's opposition leader looked set Sunday to return home from South Africa to face Robert Mugabe in a presidential runoff poll despite a risk of "more violence, more gloom, more betrayal. "(AFP/File/Alexander Joe)
Zimbabwean Movement for Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai speaks during a press conference in Pretoria on May 11. The UN warned that post-election violence in Zimbabwe was rising to near crisis levels ahead of a planned presidential run-off, with opposition supporters bearing the brunt of attacks. (AFP/File/Gianluigi Guercia)
But hey, the Z dollar has even become a joke on Australian television. Troops in the streets won't make any difference. There comes a time when you need to step back, and let the people do this for themselves.
Africans cannot be trusted to carry out complicated roles in government. Without the guidance of others, they just regress.
The same shall be true of the first African president of the US.
There is nothing the US can or should do.
Even food shipments just enable mugabe. My guess is that the MDC will not be much different than the current murderers in charge of Zimbabwe.
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