State Department warns that pro-Mugabe forces are preparing to use violence

25 April 2008

By Stephen Kaufman, Staff Writer

Jendayi Frazer tells reporters the international community cannot let the situation in Zimbabwe “escalate further.” (© AP Images)

Washington -- The Bush administration has called on Zimbabwe’s neighbors to use “maximum leverage” to help the country’s citizens avoid a dramatic crisis, citing indications that forces loyal to President Robert Mugabe are preparing to use severe force against the government’s political opposition.

“There have been some raids.  Clearly, there was a use of force there.  And, sadly, it is consistent with the behavior of this regime over the past years,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters April 25.

“It is really incumbent upon the neighbors of Zimbabwe and anybody who has an interest in this issue to bring about the maximum leverage that they can to help avoid what could be a terrible situation for Zimbabwe,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Zimbabwean riot police raided the headquarters of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, and witnesses claimed they arrested at least 100 MDC supporters and seized computers and documents.

The riot police also raided the headquarters of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), the largest independent observer group in the country’s March 29 elections, which said MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had gained the most votes in the presidential ballot against Mugabe.

Although it has been nearly one month since the election, the official presidential results have never been announced and the government-appointed electoral commission is recounting 23 of the 210 voting constituencies for the parliamentary vote, which had previously indicated that President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party had lost control of the legislature for the first time since independence in 1980.

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, citing independent monitors that had declared Tsvangirai the winner of the presidential vote, said Tsvangirai “won, and perhaps outright,” and called on Mugabe’s government to “accept the result.”

Frazer, speaking in South Africa April 24, said the government is rejecting the will of its people.  “If they had voted for Mugabe, the results would already have been announced. Everyone knows what time it is,” she said.

The assistant secretary said the situation may call for a negotiated solution, but the severity of human rights violations against opposition supporters has reached the point that more international involvement may be necessary.

“We can’t stand back and wait for this to escalate further,” she said.  She also praised British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s plan to promote an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, saying the United States would “consider seriously” his idea.

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