Bush attacks Mugabe poll 'sham'

US President George Bush labelled Zimbabwe’s election a sham today as G8 leaders kicked off their annual summit.

The summit opened on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido with activists accusing the leaders of the “Group of Eight” economic powers of falling behind on delivering promised aid to Africa.

Climate change and the global food crisis were high on the agenda, with a working lunch attended by leaders of seven African nations to discuss aid to the continent.

But Zimbabwe ended up consuming much of their time together, President Bush said.

President Bush, who backs UN sanctions against Zimbabwe, urged the international community to come together on ways to punish President Robert Mugabe, who is accused of using violence to win votes and quash his political opposition in the June 27 run-off.

“You know I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe,” President Bush said after the meeting with African leaders. “I’m extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labelled a ’sham’ election.”

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who is also head of the African Union, said African leaders share the concerns, but may disagree with President Bush on the way forward. The African Union has not backed sanctions.

A UN Security Council resolution drafted by the US and backed by Britain would require nations to freeze the financial assets of Mugabe and 11 of his officials, and to restrict their travel to within Zimbabwe.

The G8 leaders met leaders from Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania and the chairman of the African Union Commission.

Meanwhile, pressure groups accused the G8 – particularly France, Canada, Japan and Italy – of falling behind on fulfilling aid commitments to Africa. The other members of the group are Britain, Germany, Russia and the US.

African aid was the centrepiece of the G8 summit three years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, where leaders pledged to increase foreign aid by 50 billion US dollars a year by 2010 – with half of that going directly to Africa – and to cancel the debt of the most heavily indebted poor nations.

“If that money were on the ground, we estimate that five million lives a year would be saved,” said Charles Abani, regional director for Oxfam in Nigeria. He noted that it could have been spent on health services, education that lowers vulnerability to Aids, and other lifesaving steps.

Collectively, the G8 has delivered just 3 billion dollars of the 25 billion dollars additional aid pledged to Africa in 2005, according to Debt, Aids and Trade in Africa, or Data, an advocacy group founded by U2 singer Bono and musician Bob Geldof.

Germany, the US and Britain were following through on commitments, while progress from France, Italy, Japan and Canada was either unclear or weak, Data said.

Japan said there has been no backtracking on commitments made by the G8 to Africa.

“I don’t understand the criticism,” said Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama. “The G8 leaders are very aware of the commitments they have made to African leaders.”

Yesterday, President Bush emphasised the urgency of providing aid for Africa, calling on wealthy nations to provide mosquito nets and other aid to prevent children from “needlessly dying from mosquito bites.”

The Africa Progress Panel, chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said last month that wealthy countries are likely to fail in their promise to deliver billions more aid to Africa by 2010.

It also said rising global food prices threatened to destroy years of economic progress in Africa and drive 100 million people into poverty.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he has received international support for his idea of creating an experts group to tackle the global food crisis, similar to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

President Sarkozy has also urged the G8 to expand to take in growing powers China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico, saying it is unwise to keep them on the sidelines.

Those countries will be holding their own meeting tomorrow in Sapporo, the nearest big city, and their leaders are to meet with the G8 on Wednesday.

Talks are expected to shift tomorrow and Wednesday to climate change as leaders try to move forward UN-led talks aimed at forging a new global warming accord by the end of next year.

The negotiations have stalled because of disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse gas reductions, and how much developing countries such as China and India should be required to participate.

It was unclear whether nations would be able to agree to a goal of cutting their emissions by 50% by 2050. A more ambitious goal of setting nearer-term targets for 2020 was considered well beyond reach.