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UK wants tougher SA stance on Zimbabwe

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: 2004-05-20 Time: 10:53:02  Posted By: Jan

[Of course it won’t happen. Jan]

Britain has given strong hints that it is trying to persuade the South African government to take tougher measures against Zimbabwe to bring about change. Speaking on a two-day visit to SA yesterday, UK Minister for Africa Chris Mullin was sceptical about the prospects for talks, saying he saw no desire by the ruling Zanu PF party to allow change. Calling Zimbabwe’s latest crop forecasts “fantasy”, he warned that many innocent people could face hunger if Harare turned down food aid. Mullin, who became minister for Africa last year, said he recognised that SA had been doing its best to encourage talks between the ruling Zanu PF party and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but “Mugabe is a difficult customer”. “I don’t see any signs that the Zimbabwe government is seriously interested in democracy and a return to the rule of law,” Mullin said. Mullin said it was up to SA whether or not it wanted to impose “smart” sanctions of the sort that target Zimbabwe’s ruling elite and which the European Union (EU) and the US have imposed. “Smart sanctions are what have been imposed by the EU and the Americans and it’s open for others to do the same if they see fit,” he said. “If I do urge them to do the same it will not be on a radio programme or through the media, it will be in private.”

Mullin also warned that the possibility of Zimbabwe rejecting food aid “could result in hunger for many Zimbabweans”. The forecasts came after a United Nations (UN) assessment mission was ordered to halt its work, raising speculation that Harare may bar food aid and use food as a political weapon in the run-up to parliamentary elections due in March next year. Mullin said he hoped that the UN’s World Food Programme would be able to continue distributing food in Zimbabwe. Mullin’s visit to SA and Mozambique comes during a period of intense preparatory work for next month’s Group of Eight (G-8) summit in the US, at which African matters will be discussed. The UK is set to try and play an increasingly influential role in African affairs when it chairs the G-8 summit and in its upcoming presidency of the EU. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said the Commission for Africa, which he established and on which a number of African leaders sit, including Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, will influence the UK’s African agenda. On this trip Mullin held talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad on a range of issues. In other remarks yesterday, Mullin said the UK considered the situation in the Darfur region of the western Sudan as possibly the most serious of the world’s humanitarian crises. He said the UK had told the Sudanese government it wanted access for humanitarian agencies to the region, the disarming of the militias, and wanted observers there as soon as possible.

Source: ZWNEWS.COM