From Volume 7, Issue 38 of EIR Online, Published Sept. 9, 2008
Africa News Digest

Agreement Between Government and Opposition in Zimbabwe

Sept. 11 (EIRNS)—Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and the opposition have agreed on a power-sharing agreement, as a result of negotiations mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki. The final agreement is to be signed Sept. 15, according to Mbeki, but he has not revealed any specifics yet. Mbeki will report the specifics of the agreement to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), which had named him the mediator.

Representatives of George Soros's Open Society Institute (OSI) have told EIR that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who confirmed that an agreement had been reached, was unlikely to sign anything that didn't give him enough power as head of the government, and that the British and U.S. governments would not support any deal in which Mugabe retained power. This signifies that the U.K. and U.S. would provide no development assistance to rebuild Zimbabwe unless their conditions were met. The South African Business Day reports the same thing today, citing British and U.S. diplomats who, Business Day said, are advisors to Tsvangirai.

Tanzania, Nigeria To Lead Effort vs. ICC in Sudan

Sept. 11 (EIRNS)—African Union chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said on Sept. 9 that the AU Peace and Security Council will take the responsibility of handling attempts at the UN to stop the International Criminal Court's (ICC) attack on Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, according to Sudan News Agency yesterday. The ICC accuses Bashir of genocide, in order to establish a precedent to be used to attack the sovereignty of any nation which resists London's imperial policies. Bashir is considered a safe target, since much of the international media has already declared him guilty of these charges.

Kikwete made the statement at a joint Sept. 9 press conference with Bashir in Khartoum, after their consultations. Kikwete emphasized that the Nigerian and Tanzanian ambassadors to the UN are now working in New York on this initiative, so as to freeze the ICC provocation for a year.

Kikwete also met in Khartoum with the chief of the joint AU-UN peacekeeping mission, to discuss the peace process in Darfur. He said that the intention of the AU is to work with the UN and the government of Sudan to realize peace and justice in Darfur, and to handle the humanitarian crisis there. He noted that this was the intention of the government of Sudan, and that the priority should be given to peace, humanitarian issues, protection of lives, and alleviation of suffering.

In what is seen as an effort to undermine this commitment to calm the situation in Darfur, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said he expects the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir next month, i.e., during the UN General Assembly meeting, precisely when the AU Peace and Security Council would be trying to stop the ICC provocation.

Although the ICC warrant may reduce the charges against Bashir to something less than genocide, Khalilzad's actions divert attention from London, and shift them to the United States. One Washington analyst stated that all Khalilzad did was to make the Sudanese government think that the ICC was an operation coordinated by the United States.

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