UN Urges African Leaders to Negotiate Zimbabwe Settlement

The UN today challenged African leaders to negotiate a political settlement in Zimbabwe at the opening of an African Union summit tended by Robert Mugabe.

"This is a moment of truth for regional leaders," Asha-Rose Migiro, the UN deputy secretary general, told African heads of state in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

Migiro, watched by Mugabe, said it was "regrettable" that the second round of the uncontested Zimbabwean presidential elections had gone ahead despite concerns over the circumstances.

She urged the AU to get involved in finding a peaceful solution and said that was the only route to stability.

Her comments came as the prime minister, Gordon Brown, called on the AU to "make it absolutely clear that there has got to be change and a new government" in the wake of the Zimbabwean poll.

However, the leading officials who opened the summit chose their words extremely cautiously, conscious that the continent remained split over what to do about the crisis.

Jean Ping, the AU commission chairman, said Africa "must shoulder its responsibility and do everything in its power to help the Zimbabwean parties so as to overcome current challenges".

Jakaya Kekwete, the Tanzanian president, chairing the summit, referred to Friday's elections as "historic".

"There has been a positive side to this, but there have also been challenges," Kekwete, speaking Swahili, said.

"We would like to congratulate the Zimbabwean people for their successes, but we would also like to express our commiseration for their suffering.

"We would also like to ask the international community to work with SADC (the Southern African Development Community) to find a solution to the problem.

The SADC is split over Zimbabwe, and its mediator, the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, is seen by the opposition as being too close to Mugabe to be credible.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change will be disappointed if the summit ends without the appointment of an AU mediator.

The summit opening was accompanied by chaotic scenes outside the gates, with the accreditation of many delegates and journalists not having been processed by the time proceedings got under way.

In nearby offices, Egyptian officials pored over haphazard piles of application forms and documents as arguments raged around them.

At one point, scuffles broke out at the entrance to the conference center when a white-uniformed naval attaché from an African delegation, frustrated by the delays, charged at the police cordon, provoking several Egyptian guards to reach for their pistols.

The tussle was eventually defused without serious injury, but dozens of delegates were left marooned in the sun outside the venue.