WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2003-12-08 Posted By: Jan
From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 12/8/2003 11:24:40 PM
Mugabe Quits the Commonwealth
[Note. Hooray. I wonder though if there could be more problems that will come out of this? I wonder if some sort of racial split will occur eventually? Our President, Mbeki is showing with each passing day just how much he loves Mugabe. The dirt bag. Jan]
Zimbabwe quit the Commonwealth in dramatic fashion last night after the 54-nation grouping resolved to extend sanctions against Robert Mugabe’s government for violating the group’s democratic values. Mr Mugabe told leaders of Jamaica, Nigeria and South Africa that he did not accept a Commonwealth decision to prolong Zimbabwe’s suspension from the group until the country mended its ways. “Accordingly, Zimbabwe has withdrawn its membership from the Commonwealth with immediate effect,” said a government statement. The statement, as reported last night by Reuters, said the three leaders called Mr Mugabe in order to try to persuade him not to quit, but Mr Mugabe was adamant that there was no point in Harare remaining. It said Mr Mugabe had told them: “Anything that you agree on Zimbabwe which is short of this position [ending suspension], no matter how sweetly worded, means Zimbabwe is still a subject of the Commonwealth. This is unacceptable. This is it – it’s quits, and quits it will be.”
Mr Mugabe, who was not invited to the weekend summit at which the subject of Zimbabwe dominated, had vowed earlier last week to quit the grouping, which he described as an “Anglo-Saxon unholy alliance”. Zimbabwe was first suspended from the Commonwealth in March 2002, after Mr Mugabe was denounced for rigging his own re-election and persecuting opponents. The issue had threatened to split the Commonwealth along racial lines, but the body managed to forge a compromise at its Nigeria summit, appointing a seven-nation panel to monitor Zimbabwe’s progress towards improved democratic values. In a display of regional solidarity, the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, had argued that Zimbabwe’s continued suspension was proving counter-productive and should be lifted immediately. He eventually bowed to the majority view, though only after Tony Blair appeared to exert pressure on the South African leader to give way by allowing officials to identify publicly who was blocking a deal.
Commonwealth heads had hoped the Zimbabwe issue could be resolved quickly, to prevent the summit’s important agenda on development, world trade and the HIV/Aids crisis being hijacked. To break the deadlock, a six-strong committee of Commonwealth “wise men” was established, but they split 4-2 on the search for a consensus. Mr Blair last night told Sky News: “I think it is a shame that it has dominated the conference to such an extent. On the other hand, I think it indicates the degree to which what the Commonwealth says matters in respect of Zimbabwe.” On the third frustrating day of talks, Mr Mbeki, with some support from Mozambique, was holding out against the dominant view of the 52 heads of government that pressure on Harare must be maintained until progress is evident. South Africa believes that Zimbabwe is the victim of double standards that have seen Pakistan, also suspended since the Musharraf military coup, treated more lightly because of its importance to the US-led war on terrorism.
Mr Blair repeatedly claimed: “This isn’t a black-white issue”, pointing to support for the majority line from Kenya, Ghana, Gambia and the Carribean. He argued that Pakistan was making progress while Zimbabwe was “getting worse”. But 10 African states backed Pretoria’s position in what amounted to a “proxy” show of strength when the Commonwealth’s secretary general, Don McKinnon, a hardliner on Zimbabwe, won re-election for a second four-year term by only 42 votes to 10. The breakthrough appeared to come yesterday afternoon when the group of six – South Africa, Mozambique, Canada, Australia, the Nigerian hosts and Jamaica – reported back to the main summit.
Source:Guardian (UK)
Michael White in Abuja
URL: http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID…br>