Annan urges more African involvement in Zimbabwe crisis
NAIROBI (AFP) — Former UN chief Kofi Annan on Saturday urged African leaders to urgently step in and resolve the election crisis in Zimbabwe, warning that it posed a threat to neighbouring countries.
"There has been substantial international attention, the question that has been posed is where are the Africans? Where are the leaders of the countries in the region, what are they doing, how can they can they help the situation?," Annan told reporters in Nairobi.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) held an emergency summit over the Zimbabwe crisis which ended on April 13 with a simple statement calling for the release of the March 29 poll results.
The Zimbabwean opposition and several analysts have criticised South African President Thabo Mbeki and the regional grouping for its muted response to the spiralling crisis in Zimbabwe.
"It is a rather dangerous situation, it is a serious crisis with impact beyond Zimbabwe. We do have a responsibility to work with them to find a viable solution," Annan added.
Zimbabwe is holding a partial recount Saturday of votes, with Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change claiming victory and accusing President Robert Mugabe of rigging the process to cling to power.
Annan was speaking in Nairobi, where he attended the swearing-in ceremony for the Kenyan coalition government born of the mediation he led following the lethal violence that erupted after disputed December elections.
Asked if he would take up a mediation role in Zimbabwe, Annan said: "No-one has invited me to go to Zimbabwe ... We will cross the bridge when we get there."
Annan said he held talks with Zimbabwean opposition leaders in Nairobi on Friday.
"In the Zimbabwe situation, I would have liked to see a sort of action like in Kenya -- by the time I got here, you had got several people (African leaders) trying to help," he said.
"The African leaders played a role here (in Kenya) and I think they can play a similar role in other crises on the continent," he said.
Annan's mediation team in Kenya also included former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and Graca Machel, the wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela.
