ZIMBABWE: The EU has called on Zimbabwe to halt political violence and remove curbs on the media in advance of presidential elections in March. Talks between EU officials and Zimbabwe government representatives continued in Brussels late last night. From Denis Staunton in Brussels.
Brussels gave Zimbabwe one week to declare in writing that it will accept international observers and news media during the March 9th-10th presidential elections.
"At this stage, the EU is not satisfied that its concerns will be met," said a statement issued by the EU. after a day of talks with Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister, Mr Stan Mudenge.
It said it was asking President Robert Mugabe's government to send a letter to the Spanish presidency "within a week" detailing what action it would take to address European concerns.
The Zimbabwean delegation includes the Information Minister, Mr Jonathan Moyo, and the Justice Minister, Mr Patrick Chinamasa, who is responsible for forcing repressive new laws through parliament this week.
During a break in the talks, Mr Hegel Goutier, a Haitian representative who was present, said Zimbabwe had agreed to an EU demand that independent monitors and media should be invited to Zimbabwe for the elections. "All independent media, all independent observers, will be invited on time ... The press is invited," he said.
But a spokesman for the External Affairs Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, declined to confirm the report and insisted that the EU's demands must be considered as a whole. He added that the issue of sanctions was not on the agenda and that such measures would not be considered until it became clear how Zimbabwe's government planned to respond to EU demands.
Mr Mudenge told the meeting that Britain dominated anti-government media in his country and accused London of fomenting opposition to government policies. "Britain has used its membership of the EU to gain sympathy for white farmers in Zimbabwe and to try to evade its colonial responsibilities," he said.
In an angry response to the charge, Spain's EU ambassador, Mr Javier Conde de Saro, is understood to have told Mr Mudenge that the EU member-states were not "British puppets". In his opening address, Mr de Saro hinted that economic sanctions were possible unless Zimbabwe complied with EU demands.
The talks come amid mounting concern throughout Europe at President Mugabe's repressive measures. The British MEP, Ms Glenys Kinnock, said Mr Mugabe's latest attempt to stifle opposition made it imperative that the EU should act. "Enough is enough and we cannot continue to tolerate this appalling abuse of human rights," she said.
Declan Walsh reports from Nairobi:
In Africa, the reverberations from Zimbabwe's draconian new laws started to be felt as the opposition MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, vowed to contest the election. "We have no intention of abandoning the people," he told reporters in Harare.
South Africa, the regional power and until recently a stubborn Mugabe ally, broke its silence yesterday and criticised the statement by Zimbabwe's army commander that his forces will not support an MDC win in the March elections. "You cannot have a situation where in a sense the security forces are trying to pre-empt an election," said a government spokesman Mr Bheki Khumalo.