AU Body Says Zimbabwe Crisis on Agenda in Arusha

The current political turmoil in Zimbabwe has been included in the agenda of on-going extraordinary meeting of African foreign ministers in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, APA learned on Wednesday.

The meeting, dubbed an Executive Council, is expected to come up with recommendations on how to rescue Zimbabwe from is worsening political crisis following the March 29 presidential in which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai narrowly defeated President Robert Mugabe but will require a run-off for the two to claim the presidency.

The 11th extraordinary Executive Council is expected to present its proposals to the Committee of Heads of State, known as the Committee of Twelve, which is scheduled to meet in Arusha later this month.

This, according to diplomatic sources, means that an African Union mini- summit would take place in Arusha later this month to discuss the ministers’ recommendations.

Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation minister Bernard Membe said the Zimbabwe issue had been included in the agenda of the two-day meeting convened to discuss how to strengthen the continental body.

He told reporters that the issue would come up during the presentation of the Peace and Security Commission to the foreign ministers’ session.

Membe, who is the current chairman of the council, could not speculate on what the ministers would decide on the southern African country.

After the recent post-election violence in Kenya that killed about 1,000 people and left 350,000 others homeless, Zimbabwe’s political crisis is another stern test for the AU’s ability to deal with internal problem in member countries.

The extraordinary meeting comes just one week after President Kikwete met Tsvangirai in Addis Ababa. Diplomatic sources believe that the meeting sent a strong message to the Harare regime.

Source African Press Agency

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