African Union Summit Welcomes Mugabe, Shuns Zimbabwe Crisis
Despite world outrage over Mr. Mugabe's fast-forward election and inauguration from Friday through Sunday, he got a warm welcome in Sha
Heads of state and government of the African Union disappointed hopes among international observers and Western governments that they would take President Robert Mugabe to task for his re-election in a ballot widely seen as illegitimate and his inauguration at top speed. World attention was focused on the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh as African leaders opened a two-day summit on Monday, but they gave little indication they would even criticize let alone censure Mr. Mugabe over his country's degraded electoral process. The European Union called Mr.Mugabe's election an "exercise in power-grabbing." Earlier, UnitedNations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement calling Zimbabwe'selection "deeply flawed," urging a negotiated solution. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing,called on the U.N. Security Council to do morethan issue "just another statement." Despiteinternational outrage over Friday's one-man run-off election and his inauguration in rapid sequence on Sunday, Mr.Mugabe got a warm welcome in Sharm El-Sheikh. He walked into the mainconference hall side by side with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,summit host, and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who holds the rotating AUpresidency. A.U. avoided direct criticism of Mr. Mugabe. In thesummit's opening session, Mr. Kikwete spoke only of "challenges" inZimbabwe. Speaking in Swahili through a translator, Mr. Kikwete congratulated the Zimbabwean people for what he called theirsuccess and avoided any direct criticism of Mr. Mugabe for what many have described as a 'sham' election. A.U. Commission Chairman Jean Ping in his remarks said only that Africa must do"everything in its power" to help Zimbabwe resolve its politicalcrisis. SomeAU members were known to be lobbying for a strong statement on the election. But a potential supporter of such a statement, Zambian President LevyMwanawasa, was taken out of play after he suffered a stroke at the summit. His vice president, Rupiah Banda, said Mr. Mwanawasa was in stable condition afterbeing hospitalized locally. The Zimbabwean opposition was lobbying African leaders at the summit.