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SADC urges UK to honour Zimbabwe land commitments
2007-03-30 08:59:40
By Guardian Reporter
Southern African leaders, who were meeting in Dar es Salaam, have appealed to Britain to honour its commitments to fund Zimbabwe land reforms — long a demand of President Robert Mugabe`s government.
The southern African leaders also echoed Mugabe`s frequent demand that London be held to vague commitments it made to assist with financing land reforms in Zimbabwe after it achieved independence in 1980.
`The extraordinary summit reiterated its appeal to Britain to honour its compensation obligations with regard to land reforms,`the summit statement said.
Mugabe has repeatedly accused Britain of reneging on its promises and, in 2000, launched his own drive to forcibly seize white-owned farms to give to landless blacks -launching the country on an economic and political downward spiral.
The special summit also called on the West to drop sanctions against Mugabe`s government.
A statement issued yesterday at the end of a two-day summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held in Dar es Salaam said the leaders have also named South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki to facilitate political dialogue in Zimbabwe.
`The extraordinary summit mandated his Excellency President Thabo Mbeki to continue to facilitate dialogue between opposition and government and report back ... on progress,` a statement at the end of the two-day summit said.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who hosted the summit amid growing Western calls for a tough line on Mugabe`s most recent political crackdown, said the regional grouping appealed to all sides in the dispute to step back from the brink.
`Of course the appeal to parties is to be cooperative and give this initiative a chance, also for the parties to exercise restraint and avoid anything that`s going to inflame the situation,` he told reporters at a news conference.
The summit, attended by both Mugabe and Mbeki, satisfied long-term demands of Zimbabwe’s government by calling on all sanctions against the country to be lifted.
The United States and the European Union have imposed `targeted` sanctions on Mugabe and his circle following a series of elections that the opposition says were rigged.
The summit had also appointed SADC Executive Director Dr Tomaz Augustino Salamao to undertake a study on the economic situation of Zimbabwe and propose measures on how SADC can assist Zimbabwe recover economically.
On the Democratic Republic of Congo, the summit resolved that the country needed to have a single national army and urged all armed groups to be integrated into the national army or to be demobilised.
The leaders said there was a need to disarm small groups.
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