Thousands hail Robert Mugabe's return in pictures

[XXPANTHAXX]

Thousands hail Mugabe's return



HARARE, ZIMBABWE Jul 04 2008 12:24

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe arrived home to a hero's welcome from
thousands of supporters on Friday after avoiding serious censure at an
African Union summit over his widely condemned one-man election.

About 4 000 supporters gathered at Harare's airport to welcome the
84-year-old leader, who returned after AU leaders shunned calls for his
suspension or the imposition of sanctions over Zimbabwe's political
crisis, and instead passed a resolution calling for the formation of a
national unity government.

The crowd on the airport tarmac sang, danced, played campaign music and
waved Zimbabwe flags as Mugabe flew in from Cairo.

"We realise that our country almost went to the colonialists through the
Movement for Democratic Change [MDC], but we have managed to take it
back," said a Mugabe supporter who gave his name as Comrade Chitenje.

"That's why so many have come out today [Friday]. It's an historic
moment."

Olivia Muchena, a spokesperson for Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, said: "We are
reaffirming the landslide victory. We are welcoming our hero back with
love and honour."

The AU summit held in Egypt earlier this week came on the heels of
Zimbabwe's one-man election last Friday that opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai boycotted, citing rising violence against his supporters he
blamed on Mugabe thugs and which left about 90 dead and thousands
injured.

Mugabe's government hailed the AU resolution and said it is open to
dialogue with the opposition, while Tsvangirai has rejected the calls
for a national unity government, saying it does not recognise the will
of the people.

The opposition leader has said the resolution merely accommodates Mugabe
after much of the world dismissed his re-election as a farce, and that
the MDC's victory in the first round of the election should be the basis
for any talks.

Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the March 29 first round, but with an official
vote total just short of an outright majority.

Western calls for sanctions have intensified following the election and
Mugabe's swearing in for a sixth term on Sunday, though South African
President Thabo Mbeki, chief mediator for the crisis, has warned against
imposing a solution from the outside.

On Thursday, the United States pushed for a United Nations travel ban
and an assets freeze on Mugabe and 13 of his cronies in protest at the
presidential run-off vote.

US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad formally introduced a sanctions
resolution, also including an arms embargo on the Harare regime, in the
Security Council, and said he hoped it would be voted upon by the
15-member body next week.

The US draft would also direct UN chief Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special
representative "who would support the negotiation process between the
political parties in Zimbabwe".

Diplomatic sources said former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who
helped broker a power-sharing agreement in Kenya last February, former
Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, Nigerian ex-president Olusegun
Obasanjo and Ghanaian President John Kufuor were being considered for
the mission.

While some African leaders, including Kenyan Prime Minister Raila
Odinga, have openly condemned Mugabe, criticism from the continent has
remained limited.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, a harsh critic of Mugabe, was not able
to participate in the AU debates after suffering a stroke. He remained
hospitalised on Friday.

Uncompromising message

Meanwhile, an uncompromising message was given on Friday to the rest of
the world by South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz
Pahad: "Let Africa solve Africa's problems."

He told a media briefing in Pretoria that AU summit had decided on a way
forward for finding a solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe, and any
outside interference would not be helpful.

He was particularly referring to the resolution under chapter VII of the
UN charter, which is being proposed in the Security Council by the US,
the current council chair.

"We want to see how the resolution of the AU summit is operationalised,"
Pahad said, "before we jump to a chapter VII resolution."

Pahad said that he hoped reference to the summit resolution could be
included in the draft Security Council resolution now being circulated.

"We call on the international community not to do anything that will
jeopardise what the African continent as a whole has decided, "he said.

He said that the resolution was passed by all 53 countries of the
continent, and that they represented the largest continental block of
countries in the UN.

"All other parties must respect the will of the African summit," he
said, "and do nothing to impede the approach to find a solution to the
Zimbabwean problem." -- AFP, I-Net Bridge

[rebelAfrika]

The victory of ZANU-PF and Cdr. Mugabe against the neo-colonial stooges of the MDC is nothing short of inspirational! And what I find REALLY interesting is how ALL the liberal europeans who was all about "SAVE DARFUR" have dropped that topic like a hot potato and are now trying to CONDEMN the elections in Zimbabwe. Let's see if "negros" follow their liberal white masters and go against ZANU-PF (and support the MDC)...the same way these same negros followed their masters into the "SAVE DARFUR" campaign.