Mugabe Hears Little Rebuke From Neighbors

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe joined an African summit Monday looking for a boost of political legitimacy after a re-election condemned by world leaders. His fellow African leaders appeared unlikely to strongly criticize him, hoping to quietly find a resolution to the crisis.

The African Union summit got under way in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik a day after Mugabe was sworn in as president for a sixth term after a widely discredited runoff in which he was the only candidate. His main rival has dismissed the inauguration as "an exercise in self-delusion," and many world leaders have called the runoff a sham.

Though Zimbabwe was expected to be one of the main focuses of the AU summit, African leaders were not expected to publicly denounce Mugabe and instead gently urge him to engage in some sort of power-sharing agreement.

A draft resolution written by AU foreign ministers during two days of talks before the summit did not criticize the runoff election or Mugabe. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, condemned violence in general terms and called for dialogue.

But harsher words were spoken by U.N. deputy secretary-general, Asha-Rose Migiro, who called the situation an "extremely grave crisis."

"This is the single greatest challenge... in southern Africa, not only because of its terrible humanitarian consequences but also because of the dangerous political precedent it sets," she told delegates during an opening address.

Mugabe has threatened to point fingers at African leaders if they speak out against him. The Zimbabwe government newspaper The Herald reported Monday that Mugabe "was prepared to face any of his AU counterparts disparaging Zimbabwe's electoral conduct because some of their countries had (a) worse elections record."

African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping told delegates that Africans should "shoulder the responsibility" of helping Zimbabwe - but he did not criticize Mugabe or speak harshly about the crisis.

Africa should "do everything in its power to help the Zimbabwe parties to work together in the supreme interests in their country so as to overcome its current challenges," he said.

Electoral officials said Sunday that Mugabe won 85 percent of the vote in Friday's runoff, which observers said was marred by violence and intimidation. Opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai had dropped out of the runoff after a campaign of state-sponsored violence against his supporters.

Just hours after he was declared the winner, Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwe's leaders since independence in 1980, sounded a conciliatory note.

"Sooner or later, as diverse political parties, we shall start serious talks," he said in a speech following his swearing-in Sunday. He also had promised talks on the eve of the vote.

Many world leaders have condemned Friday's runoff. On Monday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said France had "decided that this government is illegitimate" and called the re-election of Mugabe a "farce."

President Bush has said the U.S. was working on ways to further punish Mugabe and his allies. That could mean steps against his government as well as additional restrictions on the travel and financial activities of Mugabe supporters. The U.S. has financial and travel penalties in place against more than 170 citizens and entities with ties to Mugabe, the White House says.

Mr. Bush also wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe as well as travel bans on Zimbabwe government officials.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Beijing on Monday, urged China to back U.N. Security Council action to punish Zimbabwe's leaders, saying the time for mere statements was over. But Beijing showed little sign of being prepared to support upcoming U.S. proposals.

Chinese officials have offered little to prompt optimism in Washington for planned tough new action over Zimbabwe, a Chinese ally and trading partner in Africa.

Rice said Washington agrees with China that African nations need to play a bigger role, but said additional action is needed.

"We'd like the Africans to take the lead but it is not an African issue alone. It is also an issue for the Security Council," she said. "When we go to the U.N. we're going to need something that is not just another statement."

China holds a veto in the Security Council and its backing, along with that of Russia, will be essential to any move to penalize Mugabe and his top aides for allegedly instigating political violence.

After meeting Rice, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Beijing favors negotiations between Mugabe.

"The most pressing path is to stabilize the situation in Zimbabwe," Yang said at a news conference with Rice on Sunday. "We hope the parties concerned can engage in serious dialogue to find a proper solution."

Rice says the U.S. plans to introduce a resolution in the council this week. The U.S. holds the council's presidency until July 1, but appears to face an uphill battle in getting several important members to agree to any penalties against Zimbabwe.