Commonwealth heads to decide on Zimbabwe

Commonwealth leaders were meeting in London today to consider suspending Zimbabwe from the organisation in the wake of the disputed presidential elections which returned Robert Mugabe to power.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Australian Prime Minister John Howard were studying a report by the organisation’s observers which is believed to detail a catalogue of violence, intimidation and vote-rigging by Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

The leaders, who were meeting at Marlborough House, were due to reveal the outcome of their deliberations around teatime.

The trio were charged with deciding the 54-nation Commonwealth’s response to the former British colony’s elections at its heads of government summit at Coolum, near Brisbane, Australia, earlier this month.

Several independent observer groups subsequently condemned the March 9-11 election, saying it was intentionally tilted to ensure Mr Mugabe’s re-election.

Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Britain, the European Union and the United States have all rejected the election result, alleging Mugabe rigged the poll.

The MDC has promised to release election statistics soon that differ greatly from those announced by the government.

Mr Mugabe was declared the winner of the presidential vote with 56% of votes to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s 42%.

The MDC said in a statement yesterday that official figures from the state Electoral Commission showed the MDC getting more votes than those announced, and the ruling party less in up to 50 of the 120 voting districts.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who wanted the Commonwealth to suspend Zimbabwe even before the elections, has said that the body would have ‘‘no option’’ but to do so if Mr Mugabe’s regime was found to have rigged polling.

But after his re-election for a further six-year term, 78-year-old Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, railed against British ‘‘colonialism’’.

He insisted the West regarded the poll as unfair only because their preferred candidate was defeated.

Yesterday Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo met Mr Mugabe and the opposition to discuss the disputed vote, and how the country can heal after two years of political violence.

Speaking at a news conference in Harare, Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo said they had asked Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai to work together to rebuild the nation, which is suffering severe food shortages and economic devastation.

Mr Mbeki’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) and Mr Mugabe’s ZANU-PF have been allies since the 1960s, when both were fighting white minority regimes, and South African observers declared that polling in the presidential elections was acceptable.

Since Mr Mugabe was returned to power, white farmers have reported an upsurge in violence in farming districts.

Yesterday a white farmer was shot dead near Norton, about 20 miles west of Harare in an assault on his homestead by suspected ruling party militants.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), previously led by Mr Tsvangirai, has announced a three-day general strike, saying workers had been asked to stay at home from tomorrow until Friday.

The union said that the strike was being called to protest against harassment and intimidation of workers since Mugabe was returned to power.