President Mugabe reaffirms support for UN reform

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Herald Reporter

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday reaffirmed his support for the
reform of the United Nations, although he said there were
still some grey areas that needed to be addressed.

This emerged after a meeting between Cde Mugabe and a special
envoy of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former
Mozambi-can President Joachim Chissano at State House in
Harare.

Mr Chissano — who arrived in the country on Wednesday night —
was in Zimbabwe to drum up support for Mr Annan’s broad
vision of the reforms ahead of the summit of world leaders at
the UN headquarters in September, which will mark the UN’s
60th anniversary.

The UN chief has called for an expanded Security Council,
fixed rules for when nations could go to war, strengthened
human rights and boosted development and trade, as well as
the overhaul of the UN bureaucracy.

Briefing journalists after the meeting which lasted for about
two hours, Mr Chissano said President Mugabe was fully
supportive of the idea to reform the UN.

"Yes, the President was very clear on his support of the of
the views of the Secretary-General but of course there are
still some matters to be clarified.

"I did not preach to him but I drew his attention to the fact
that he has to try and lead the process (of UN reform) in the
country and not to wait for September. The President said he
is going to study the points of controversy which are
emerging."

Mr Chissano said all African leaders had high respect for the
UN chief.

A source close to the talks said President Mugabe had
expressed sentiments to the effect that the issue of the
proposed UN reforms should be addressed under the auspices of
the African Union.

The source said some of the grey areas that needed to be
addressed included the creation of the Democracy Fund and the
issue of the proposed Human Rights Council.

"Zimbabwe has no problem with the Human Rights Council as a
body but we are concerned with a council that is created by
the Security Council and reports to the Security Council,"
said the source.

This, he said, was not proper as such a Human Rights Council
could be manipulated to serve the interests of certain
quarters.

On the issue of the Democracy Fund to assist countries
seeking to establish or strengthen their democracy, the
source said it was not clear who would provide such funding
and on what conditions.

Another contentious issue that needed to be resolved was the
responsibility of the UN in protecting nations when the need
arose.

The source said this was a challenging issue since the
circumstances warranting the intervention of the UN to use
force in protecting other nations had to be clearly defined.

The former Mozambican President is among five envoys
appointed by Mr Annan to champion consensus on the proposed
UN reforms.

Zimbabwe was his first port of call and from here he will be
travelling to South Africa before going to Tanzania and
Algeria.

From Algeria, Mr Chissano would go to Egypt before winding up
his tour in Libya.

President Mugabe is on record calling for the urgent reform
of the United Nations Security Council in view of attempts by
the United States and Britain to impose themselves as
political gods and prophets of the world.

Following mounting pressure from Third World countries to
reform and be democratic, the UN intends to increase members
of the Security Council and Africa has been offered two
seats.

Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have also been offered seats
in the Security Council.

The UN has come up with a 15-page document entitled "In
larger Freedom" to drum up support for its Millennium
Development Goals and the proposed reforms.

Some of the millennium goals include the need for developing
countries with extreme poverty to adopt and begin
implementing by next year national development strategies.

At least 0,7 percent of the total budget of developed
countries should be channelled to assist poor countries while
member-states should provide duty-free and quota-free market
access for all exports from the least developed countries.

The UN reforms also encompass the signing of a comprehensive
convention on terrorism based on a clear and agreed
definition as well strategies to reduce the prevalence and
risk of war.