Latest update: 25/06/2008 

- elections - MDC - Morgan Tsvangirai - Robert Mugabe - United Nations - Zimbabwe


Tsvangirai wants tough rhetoric and 'military force'
Regional leaders meet in Swaziland on Wednesday to discuss Zimbabwe's political deadlock, though South African President Thabo Mbeki will not be invited. (Report: N. Germain)

Hear Zimbabwe's grim inside story from FRANCE 24 correspondents A. Duval Smith and E. Jongwe in their report 'Trapped in a Harare nightmare'.

 

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for world leaders to back their tough rhetoric with "military force" in his country, in a comment piece published Wednesday.
   
Tsvangirai wrote in The Guardian newspaper that the United Nations had to go further than verbal condemnation of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and move on to "active isolation" which required "a force to protect the people."
   
"We do not want armed conflict, but the people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation from global leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military force," he wrote.
   
"Such a force would be in the role of peacekeepers, not trouble-makers.
   
"They would separate the people from their oppressors and cast the protective shield around the democratic process for which Zimbabwe yearns."
   
Tsvangirai noted that "intervention is a loaded concept in today's world, of course."
   
"Yet, despite the difficulties inherent in certain high-profile interventions, decisions not to intervene have created similarly dire consequences."
   
He wrote that a "new election, devoid of violence and intimidation, is the only way to put Zimbabwe right."
   
International calls to postpone Friday's runoff vote have intensified, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon warning that holding the election "would only deepen the divisions within the country and produce results that cannot be credible."
   
Tsvangirai announced over the weekend he was pulling out of the election because of rising violence, saying he could not ask supporters to risk their lives by casting ballots.
   
The government, however, has defied global criticism by vowing to push ahead with the runoff, even as the opposition leader remained holed up in the Dutch embassy.

Comments (4)

please please help

please help us if u love us just as humans, we are suffering. It does not matter that u gain anything from us or not but for the sake of loving us. if there is any leader especial mr bush or mr brown just help us. just send your troops to remove our dictactor. we used to love him but he has since transformed due to the love of power.zimbabwe has virtually come to a stanstill. this morning i was forced to register my name and i was told that i will be given a ballot serial number tomorrow so that i use it to vote and if i do not vote" correctly" i will face the music and i had to comply for the loe of my kids and my safety. its so terrible please assist and god will bless you abundantly. Just imagine how many people are dying.you just need to get into any hospital even in harare and see for yourself. i am not into politics but i hae been affected terribly. This problem is now like AIDS, the dreaded disease, its rare to see a person who can proudly say i have not been affected in one way or the other. Either you have a relative who has died in this violence or who has been beaten for failing to obey orders. Last week my mother was beaten because she had been to my place(urban area) and there is a belief that if someone goes to the urban areas he/she will be given "wrong advice" i.e. to vote for the opposition. its even dangerous now even to complain about the hardships we are facing. if u come to harare now you see everyone with something ZANU PF either a T-shirt, cap, batanas,stickers on cars, posters even on kombis because people are afraid. if you are seen without you are forced to get one or you will be beaten severely. In harare these militias come and knock at gates in the night, and they will ask u for what they call a password, if you do not know the password then u are in for it. its terrible here.

help zimbabweans

please help us we are in serious trouble and it seems mugabe is not worried about our problems. i am one of the victims as i am a known mdc supporter, the zanu pf youths have destroyed my family's property, i was thouroughly beaten yet i have a 7months old baby, its only that i dont have anywhere to go but we are in trouble.

its us the ordinary-folk who suffer

i live in one of the high density areas of harare and have witnessed to the terror antics of the regime. as long as the international community shouts out their rhetoric with no practical solutions there will never be any solution for the hapless poor zimbabwe. our dictator has everything at his disposal to traumatize the already suffering masses, even killing thosew considered enemies of the state. look at where the elected officials are. will there ever be any normlcy in zimbabwe i doubt it until blood starts flowing freely more openly

Please Help us

Please help us , make Mr tsvangirai's road to seek democratic tranformation of the Zimbabwean crisis easily for him. He has done enough and this is the time we must be protected by the SADC AU or UN if they are there. Its us the ordinary people who are suffering. If you have seen/heard the kind of treatment the Tsvangirais,Bitis Matinengas, Andrew Makonis, Mungofas, Mangezvos are getting what about the ordinary citizens

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