Miliband Condemns Zimbabwe Poll 'charade'

Robert Mugabe is presiding over a "charade of democracy" as he intensifies his campaign to steal the recent Zimbabwean elections by "beating his own people to death" in a desperate attempt to cling to power, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, warned last night.

In Britain's strongest condemnation of Mugabe in years, Miliband dismissed the recount of the election and signaled that Britain would challenge any election result endorsed by Mugabe.

The foreign secretary, who accused Mugabe of unleashing a campaign of violence against the "60%" of "ordinary Zimbabweans" who voted against him, also broke with Britain's softly-softly approach to South Africa by calling on Pretoria to condemn the Zimbabwean president.

In a written parliamentary statement last night, Miliband said Britain could have no confidence in any results endorsed by Mugabe. "The count itself is proceeding at a ludicrously slow rate. This only serves to fuel suspicion that President Mugabe is seeking to reverse the results that have been published, to regain a majority in parliament, and to amplify his own count ... If that is the case, then what we are witnessing is a charade of democracy. We can have little confidence that whatever is ultimately announced as the presidential election results will not have been sullied."

Miliband, who had initially used diplomatic language when Britain first challenged Mugabe's refusal to accept his apparent defeat in the first round of the presidential election, warned that the Zimbabwean president was intent on inflicting murderous violence.

"The reaction of South African dockers to the direction to unload arms they believed destined for Zimbabwe shows that ordinary Africans do not condone the way in which President Mugabe is clinging to power and beating his own people to death to ensure he retains it."

Britain has been careful not to criticize Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, who has faced criticism for his "quiet diplomacy" over Zimbabwe. But Miliband indicated that Britain is losing patience with South Africa when he called for a clear condemnation of Mugabe.

"If President Mugabe and those who keep him in office will listen to anyone, they will listen to their peers in the region and in Africa more widely. But if they will not, Africans and their organizations should be clear in their public condemnation of what is happening and should withhold their recognition of President Mugabe's regime.

"His actions pose a threat to democracy and to the values that SADC [the Southern African Development Community] and the AU [African Union] espouse."