UN:SOUTH AFRICA and its regional partners came under pressure at the United Nations yesterday to act decisively to resolve a political crisis in Zimbabwe that could ultimately pose a threat to international peace and security.
At a high-level meeting about Africa, chaired by South African president Thabo Mbeki and attended by senior politicians including British prime minister Gordon Brown, speakers highlighted the impasse over last month's Zimbabwe election as one of the most serious issues facing the continent.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon criticised South Africa implicitly: "The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the region have insisted that these matters are for the region to resolve - but the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action."
South Africa is the leading member of the Southern African Development Community, the regional grouping that has so far focused on mediation in Zimbabwe. Mr Mbeki has been criticised, even at home, for his failure to refer to the post-election situation in Zimbabwe as a crisis.
Mr Brown, who spoke to Mr Mbeki briefly before they entered the Security Council chamber, told the session: "No one thinks president [ Robert] Mugabe won this election." He said a stolen election would not be a democratic one.
He backed Mr Ban's call for a UN role to resolve the crisis in which Zimbabwe authorities have refused to publish election results after three weeks. He said international observers must be in place for any second round of polling.
"Let a single clear message go out from here in New York that we stand solidly behind democracy and human rights for Zimbabwe and we stand ready to support Zimbabweans [ to] build a better future," Mr Brown said.
South Africa has resisted calls for greater international involvement, insisting African crises should be dealt with by Africans.
However, western states had been intensifying the pressure before yesterday's meeting at which South Africa, current Security Council president, planned to highlight the many problems of the continent and to appeal for more help in funding efforts of the African Union to resolve them.
US president George Bush and Mr Ban discussed Zimbabwe on the eve of the UN session. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said afterwards: "The situation in Zimbabwe needs to be resolved peacefully and soon. It's gone on for too long."
Africa takes up more than half the Security Council's time as it wrestles over conflicts in Darfur, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. South Africa has been at odds with western states for blocking tougher action in some of the conflicts, and for stalling on crises in Burma and elsewhere.
In a speech that did not mention Zimbabwe, Mr Mbeki said the African Union had shown commitment to resolve conflicts but lack of resources limited its capacity. The international community should act as a partner in support of African states, he said, as distinct from more forceful intervention. -