Lift sanctions on Zimbabwe: AU
Bathandwa Mbola
2 February 2009
The African Union (AU) has urged the United States and European Union to lift their sanctions against Zimbabwe, after the country's two main political parties agreed to establish a unity government last week.
The executive council of the 53-member AU, meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopted a resolution on Saturday calling for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe to help ease the humanitarian situation in the country.
"Everybody should help Zimbabwe to rebuild its economy, because an agreement has been reached," said AU Commission chairperson Jean Ping.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to establish a unity government during a Southern African Development Community (SADC) special summit in Pretoria, South Africa last week.
Tsvangirai is to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's Prime Minister on February 11.
On Friday, the two political parties launched a joint monitoring and implementation committee in Harare. In a statement, the two said the committee, composed of four senior members from Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and four senior members from each of the two MDC formations, would oversee the implementation of the political agreement.
African Union chairperson and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete welcomed Tsvangirai's decision to join the unity government. "The situation looks promising, it is a step forward," he said.
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said that this was "an important step toward ending the political impasse in Zimbabwe, but it is not a guarantee that Zimbabwe's distress is over.
"Rebuilding the economy and ending the people's terrible suffering will take much more work on the part of all Zimbabweans, regional leaders and the international community," Annan said.
South Africa will continue to be involved in rebuilding the southern African country, said Thabo Masebe, spokesman for South Africa's Presidency. "This stage is critical in terms of achieving political stability and the first step towards the economic recovery of that country," Masebe said.
Source: BuaNews
