Army will not fight Zimbabweans: Minister

Zimbabwe’s army will not fight Zimbabweans, the country’s information minister said today, responding to opposition allegations that president Robert Mugabe has effectively staged an election coup to extend his rule.

Zimbabwe’s Sunday Mail quoted Sikhanyiso Ndlovu as saying: “The soldiers are in the barracks where they belong because the country does not fully require their services in such a peaceful environment. I believe everyone in the country is aware that there is no military junta,” .

The news came as Southern African leaders discussed Zimbabwe’s deepening electoral crisis at a marathon 12-hour summit that ended early this morning with a weak declaration and marked failure to criticise the absent president.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who claims to have won the March 29 election outright, had wanted the leaders to press Mr Mugabe to resign after 28 years as Zimbabwe’s leader.

Western powers, the United Nations and regional church, democracy and human rights groups had called for the meeting to demand an immediate announcement of the long-delayed election results.

Instead, a summit declaration called for the expeditious verification of results in the presence of the candidates or their agents “within the rule of law”. The declaration also urged “all parties to accept the results when they are announced”.

Independent tallies indicate Mugabe lost the election, but garnered enough votes to force a runoff.

The summit promised to send observers if there was a second round of elections. The team it sent in March was led by a junior minister from Angola, a country that has not held elections since 1992.

Presidents at the conference rushed away when the meeting ended, refusing to answer questions. They left that to Zambia’s foreign affairs minister Kabinga Pande to declare “We listened to both parties, the opposition and the government, and both have said there is no crisis”.