Blair secretly courted Mugabe to boost trade.

If Labour need any other reasons as to why they should not listen to Tony Blair about who they should elect as their next leader, then this is surely it.

Tony Blair secretly courted Robert Mugabe in an effort to win lucrative trade deals for Britain, it has emerged in correspondence released to The Independent under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents show that the relationship between New Labour and the Zimbabwean President blossomed soon after Tony Blair took office in Downing Street.

Just weeks after the Government unveiled its ethical foreign policy in May 1997, the British PM wrote a personal letter to Mr Mugabe congratulating him on his role in unifying Africa and helping to improve relations between the continent and Britain. The signed message, which welcomed Mr Mugabe's appointment as leader of the Organisation of African Unity, paved the way for an attempt to bring the two leaders together in a face-to-face meeting in Downing Street during the first weeks of the New Labour administration.

Revelations about Labour's early links with Mr Mugabe come as Mr Blair prepares to publish his autobiography in which he casts himself as a force for good in world affairs.

Nothing could say more about his basic immorality than then fact that he was willing to do business with Mugabe. And, remember, this was at the very start of his premiership, when his power was at it's zenith. He could have done anything he wanted at that period and yet he chose to attempt to coddle up to Mugabe. Nor was he, at that time, unaware of who he was dealing with.

But the secret documents show how, despite international condemnation of Mr Mugabe's regime, Labour was secretly negotiating to establish close trading and political relations with Harare. At this time, Mr Mugabe was under growing pressure to accept responsibility for "crimes against humanity" in which thousands of Matabeleland civilians were killed by the Zimbabwe army's Fifth Brigade in 1983-87.

I know that many mocked Robin Cook's intention to have an "ethical foreign policy", but at least Cook had good intentions at heart. Blair, it appears, was willing to deal with just about anybody as long as their was trade at the end of it.

So let's listen to him when it comes to who should be the next Labour leader.

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Tags: Tony Blair, Mugabe

Zimbabwe and Iran turn to the courts.

They are two entirely different country's, but the same shit always happens when the leadership wish to ignore the democratic will of the people: they put the full force of the law behind them to frighten the opposition into silence.

Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe is on the verge of a new political crisis, amid growing evidence that President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has launched a strategy to wipe out the former opposition's slim parliamentary majority.

The campaign has in the past few days seen MPs for the Movement for Democratic Change arrested for offences including playing music that "denigrates" Mugabe, and stealing a mobile phone. Fourteen MDC MPs and senators are facing charges ranging from corruption to rape. If convicted, they will lose their seats, forcing by-elections. Less than six months after MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister, the strategy again raises questions about the role of the country's courts and police.

Iran:

More than 100 Iranian opposition politicians and activists accused of involvement in violence after June's disputed presidential election appeared in court in Tehran yesterday on the first day of what opposition activists allege is a mass show trial.

The trial is the first of what is expected to be a series of court hearings which the hardline ruling regime hopes will reinforce its hold on power and deter any further attempts to contest the victory of conservative candidate and incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

So, Khamenei now finds himself emulating the actions of Mugabe. It's astonishing. Up until the last election I would have said that Khamenei's position was unassailable; indeed, even with Ahmadinejad losing the election, I would have thought that Khamenei was in no danger of being removed from power.

But, once he declared that Ahmadinejad was the winner with such obscene haste, he placed himself in direct opposition to the people he is supposed to lead and, eventually and inevitably, finds himself using the full force of the state in an attempt to impose his will.

I wonder if he dares to go as far as Mugabe is going in Zimbabwe to make sure people understand that he will do anything to retain power?

That old bastard sends signals that are impossible to ignore:

Yesterday, many Zimbabweans were outraged after a court in Chivhu imposed a fine of just US$200 (£120) on Chinoona Mwanda - who had been found guilty of culpable homicide, after the 6 March incident when his lorry swerved into the path of Tsvangirai's car, killing Susan, his wife of 31 years.

Mugabe doesn't care how blatant his acts of theft appear; indeed, he seems to almost revel in daring people to question his authority so that he can crush them. He is proud of his iron will, which he sees as one of his greatest strengths.

But this is new ground for Khamenei. He appears to be still clinging to the notion that his regime has legitimacy, and he is using the courts - in his mind - to solidify the legality of those claims.

The question now is what will Khamenei do if these court actions fail to stop protesters taking to the streets? We all know what Mugabe would do, because Mugabe doesn't give a monkeys about what anyone thinks of him. But Khamenei has, until now, ruled with the approval of a majority of Iranians.

He has utterly blown that approval and, unnecessarily, put his own position at risk. There's still a chance, albeit an infinitesimal one, that this regime could fall.

That's dependent on just how far each side, the protesters and Khamenei's government, are prepared to go to get what they want.

Tags: Zimbabwe, Iran, Mugabe, Khamenei

Tutu accuses South Africa over Mugabe.

I don't think there's anything Archbishop Tutu is saying that I have not been saying for a long time. But, for someone who took part in the epic struggle against Apartheid, it must be especially galling to watch the way South Africa is impeding any attempt to help the people of Zimbabwe.

Tutu has now told Radio 4 that he feels South Africa has lost the moral high ground by failing to stand up to Mugabe.

He said: "How much more suffering is going to make us say 'No we have given Mr Mugabe enough time?'"

He added: "I want to say first of all that I have been very deeply disappointed, saddened by the position that South Africa has taken at the United Nations Security Council in being an obstacle to the security council dealing with that matter.

"And I have to say that I am deeply, deeply distressed that we should be found not on the side of the ones who are suffering.

"I certainly am ashamed of what they've done in the United Nations.

"For the world to say no, we are waiting for South Africa's membership of the Security Council to lapse and then we can take action."

That, the Archbishop, said, was an "awful indictment" to a country that had a "proud record of a struggle against a vicious system".

He said: "We should have been the ones who for a very long time occupied the moral high ground.

"I'm afraid we have betrayed our legacy."

I understand that different country's have a different take on history, and that Britain's colonial past is a prism through which both Zimbabwe and South Africa view recent events and, to this end, I have understood Brown's reluctance to get too involved as our intervention only ever seems to play into Mugabe's hands and allows him to say that all of Zimbabwe's problems are caused by outside meddling.

But the blatant stealing of the last election and the violence which accompanied it - coupled with the fact that the country is now overrun with a cholera epidemic - must surely represent some kind of line in the sand where even South Africa say, "Enough is enough".

However, even that turns out not to be the case.

I have no idea what Mugabe would have to do for South Africa to finally wash their hands of him. And I do understand how, for people like Tutu and Mandela, the stance currently taken by their country must be simply shameful to them.

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Tags: Tutu, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Mugabe unleashes wave of terror with mass abductions.

Mugabe has responded to worldwide calls that he stands down the only way he appears to know: He has started abducting those who oppose him.

Fears are mounting in Zimbabwe for the lives of more than 40 opposition officials and human rights activists who have been abducted as part of a renewed crackdown by the regime in Harare. At least two more members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have disappeared in the past week, along with a freelance investigative reporter.

"The abductions are increasing and it now seems to be happening nationwide," Nelson Chamisa, an MDC spokesman,said yesterday.

The operation, codenamed Chimumumu according to sources in the army, aims to eliminate political opponents and remove human rights monitors. The kidnappings follow a pattern familiar from the past two years of political intimidation, where key middle- and lower-ranking officials are "disappeared" in an attempt to terrorise or destabilise opponents of the ruling party. Among those taken in the past month are Chris Dlamini, the head of security for the MDC, and Jestina Mukoko, the director of Zimbabwe Peace Project. The ruling party and security services have denied any part in the abductions.

The police and authorities are claiming that they have had nothing to do with these abductions, even though all of the people being abducted are opponents of Mugabe.

Mugabe is now claiming that Botswana are training guerrillas to topple his government and that the UK are planning an invasion, which is a fanciful theory.

Even Mugabe must realise that there has been a distinct change in the attitude of the international community towards him since the recent outbreak of cholera in his country. However, it was seriously wishful thinking if anyone thought condemnation alone would be enough to shame this old bugger into heading for the sunset. He intends to go out the only way he knows, fighting for his last breath.

Mr Tsvangirai, who is in Botswana, has given a deadline of the end of the year for the release of the abductees, otherwise his party will "suspend" power-sharing talks with the government.

The whole notion of "power sharing" which South Africa, led by Mbeki, championed, has turned into a sick joke. This tyrant has no intention of sharing anything and his recent behaviour shows that this dog is still up to his old tricks.

And the US has now signaled that it no longer has any faith in Mugabe sharing power with anyone else.

Jendayi Frazer, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told reporters in Pretoria that Washington had become convinced that the embattled president, Robert Mugabe was not interested in sharing power.

To allow him to continue as president in a unity government would leave "a man who’s lost it, who’s losing his mind, who’s out of touch with reality" in power, she said after talks with regional leaders. Washington – and Britain – had signalled a readiness to step in with a major aid package once a unity government is operational. "We’re not prepared to do any of that now," Ms Frazer said, citing the abductions in Zimbabwe, the deteriorating humanitarian and economic situation and the cholera epidemic.

The US are right in that we are now dealing with someone who appears to have lost his mind.

The question now is what are we all prepared to do about this? Mugabe, despite brutalising his people, is betting that we will do nothing. In the past he has always been proven correct and this time I don't imagine things will change in any significant manner.

Unless we are prepared to go in and topple him on humanitarian grounds then sanctions will achieve nothing. The country is already broken so there is nothing else that sanctions can do. And I somehow doubt that we are prepared to do anything more.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe

Mugabe must be toppled now - Archbishop of York.

The Archbishop of York has added his voice to the many throughout the world calling for Mugabe to be removed from power and has also stated that he thinks Mugabe should face trial for his crimes against humanity.

Dr John Sentamu, writing in The Observer, said the world must recognise that the time for talks was over and Mugabe should be forced out. 'The time has come for Robert Mugabe to answer for his crimes against humanity, against his countrymen and women and for justice to be done. The winds of change that once brought hope to Zimbabwe and its neighbours have become a hurricane of destruction, with the outbreak of cholera, destitution, starvation and systemic abuse of power by the state,' he says.

'As a country cries out for justice, we can no longer be inactive to their call. Robert Mugabe and his henchmen must now take their rightful place in The Hague and answer for their actions. The time to remove them from power has come.'

He said the power-sharing deal signed by Mugabe and the Zimbabwean opposition in September was 'now dead'.

This comes hot on the heels of recent cries for action from Gordon Brown, Condoleezza Rice and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Nick Clegg had gone further than the others and is now arguing that the use of international force has now become justified.

But Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg went further, saying the UN should now declare the use of military force was justified: 'The world has sat idly by while Mugabe has brutalised his own people for too long. Economic recession in the West has led the world to avert its gaze from the suffering in Zimbabwe. Further international inaction would be inexcusable.'

These are strong words and I wonder if the international community has any intention of doing anything other than simply condemning Mugabe.

One can only legally intervene in another country's business if genocide is taking place and I suppose the argument being made by Brown, Clegg and others is that the recent cholera epidemic has come about as a direct result of Mugabe's mismanagement of Zimbabwe and that these deaths could easily have been avoided.

It will still be a hard sell at the security council, especially if South Africa keep up their ridiculous habit of backing Mugabe at every turn.

But, since the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe, one has detected a distinct change in the language of world leaders and the feeling that their patience is finally at an end.

However, much as I would love to see him toppled, I have heard too many cries for intervention go unheeded to raise my hopes now. But it does seem as if something has changed in the way the international community is viewing events in Zimbabwe.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe, Archbishop of York, Brown, Tutu, Rice

Zimbabwe: World Leaders Tell Mugabe "Your Time is Up".

Gordon Brown has joined a growing chorus of international figures finally stating that enough is enough and asking that Mugabe stand down in Zimbabwe. For too long fears of the way Mugabe might exploit Britain's colonial past has caused UK politicians to tiptoe around this issue, but it would seem that the recent outbreak of cholera amongst Zimbabwe's population has at last freed Brown to call for some kind of international action.

He said: "This is now an international rather than a national emergency. International because disease crosses borders.

"International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken. There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people.

"International because - not least in the week of the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights - we must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough."

Mr Brown said he had "been in close contact with African leaders to press for stronger action to give the Zimbabwean people the government they deserve".

He added: "The people of Zimbabwe voted for a better future. It is our duty to support that aspiration."

This is heady stuff compared with the way we all pussyfooted around the man who refused to accept that he had lost an election, even though he had beaten large parts of his populace to force them into voting for him.

And, in the dying days of the Bush administration, it has become too much even for them to witness.

US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said it was "well past time" for him to leave office.

The forces against Mugabe really are starting to grow and the talk is of some kind of intervention.

And the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said African nations should come together to use military force if Mr Mugabe refused to go.

Archbishop Tutu said Mr Mugabe had committed "gross violations" against Zimbabwe's people and ruined "a wonderful country".

His comments came a day after Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga said African governments should oust Zimbabwe's leader.

There is still no unanimity amongst the security council as to how the international community should respond, although obviously the very first priority should be humanitarian.

But, Zimbabwe is now almost bedridden, and it will be impossible to fully cure its illness without cutting out the cancer which afflicts that nation. And that is the presidency of Robert Mugabe.

The noises coming from Africa suggest that he might finally be losing the support which has allowed him to keep going in the face of international opposition.

Even South Africa, the country which under Mbeki did more than any other to allow Mugabe to remain in power, are calling this a time for action.

Government spokesman Themba Maseko said South Africa was sending a team to assess how it could provide aid to Zimbabwe, which made a rare appeal for international aid after declaring the cholera outbreak a national emergency.

He said Zimbabweans were "dying in the streets" as the country's leaders failed to reach agreement on the formation of a unity government almost nine months after an election left the country in political limbo.

"The time for action is now and we believe the Zimbabwean government is on board and wants help from the international community," he said, expressing hope the fresh crisis would help solve the political deadlock.

"I would be extremely surprised if the outbreak of cholera, the death of innocent Zimbabweans as a result of a failure of politicians to reach an agreement does not spur them to more urgent action."

However, the South Africans continue to think that Mugabe can finally be persuaded to participate in the democratic process, which strikes me as fanciful.

There is no longer any time to pander to South Africa's foolishness:

Health minister David Parirenyatwa admitted: "Our central hospitals are literally not functioning."

"No matter how much medicine they bring, they are not going to contain this cholera, because they are treating the symptoms rather than the disease," says Tongesai, a well-educated man in his mid-30s whose younger brother was admitted earlier in the day. "The cholera is coming from the water, which is contaminated. It is not the boreholes that are bringing in the contaminated water, but the water from the city. That water is now getting to the people without being treated, and that is how people get cholera. It is tantamount to drinking raw sewage." And this is why Mugabe's government bears ultimate responsibility for the suffering of its people.

This is why we can no longer simply treat the symptoms, we must cut out the disease, and that means removing Mugabe.

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Tags: Brown, Rice, Mugabe, South Africa, Tutu, Zimbabwe

Mugabe seeks revenge on soldiers that rebelled.

Generals loyal to Mugabe are coming down hard on any soldiers who step out of line after an incident which saw junior soldiers rampage across Harare to vent their anger at their suffering in the country's economic collapse.

There are already reports that three of the twelve soldiers who took part in Thursday's riot have been killed.

Mugabe's response is typically heavy handed and seeks to terrify others out of following the soldiers example.

In a clear sign that President Mugabe's hold on his state security machinery is starting to crumble, his once-loyal soldiers ran amok across the capital on Monday after they failed to access their paltry wages in the cash-strapped banks. The unarmed soldiers fought with heavily-armed police and several were arrested.

It was the third outbreak of such violence since last Thursday. The sight of rampaging soldiers was then unprecedented. Army sources said an inquiry had already begun, with dozens facing courts martial.

This response from Mugabe has sent fear through the ranks with many junior soldiers simply failing to report for duty. Mass desertions are now expected.

"Many of them will be kept away from the armouries because of suspicions of disloyalty. They simply won't have the means to stage a full-scale coup or embark on any sustainable revolt," said a middle-ranking army officer who did not want to be named.

He spoke of widespread disenchantment within the army spawned by the economic crisis. Soldiers' salaries are now the equivalent of five US cents per month. The food rations they used to get to supplement meagre salaries have been stopped because imports have dried up because of the lack of funds. Instead, soldiers are being asked to bring food from home. Their salaries, barely enough to cover a day's bus fare, could not be drawn from the banks because of a cash shortage.

Despite these hardships, the sources said the mistrust within the army militated against any co-ordinated mutiny. Soldiers cannot trust each other because of spying by military police. President Mugabe has disbanded the presidential guard division and reconstituted it with well-armed faithful soldiers, mostly from his Zezuru clan. Other military units are not so well resourced. Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, flanked by army generals Constantine Chiwenga and Philip Sibanda, condemned the rebellious soldiers and warned of tough action against them, at a press briefing attended by mostly state media in Harare. He vowed to bring the culprits to justice.

All of this can't be good news for Mugabe. It reads like the last act of a very bloody play.

With inflation running at 231,000,000% and unemployment touching 90% the wonder is that he has managed to hold off full scale revolt at all.

Zimbabwe is now on it's knees. Mugabe's catastrophic failure is complete. None of us, after such a torturous course, can predict how this will end. Only that, based on past behaviour, Mugabe will probably ensure that the end is bloody.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe

Mugabe's power under threat as troops riot over pay

The writing might very well be on the wall for Robert Mugabe. The one thing which has kept him in power has been the loyalty shown towards him by the Zimbabwean army. And then we read this:

Dozens of Zimbabwean soldiers rioted in Harare yesterday, attacking banks after they were unable to withdraw their near worthless pay, in a further sign that Robert Mugabe may be losing control over the forces that have kept him in power.

The unarmed soldiers also looted shops and were backed by some civilians as they clashed with riot police who fired teargas to break up the protest. The drastic cash shortages are caused by the country's 231m percent inflation rate, which has led the government to restrict people to withdrawing the equivalent of just 18p a day - not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

The Associated Press reported that gunfire had broken out in the city centre but it was not clear who fired.

Though not large, yesterday's was the second such protest in a week and reflects a desperation within the military that will be of concern to Mugabe and his allies, who have relied on the army to suppress political opposition. Ordinary soldiers, often hungry and unable to feed their families, have grown disillusioned. If significant numbers were to turn against Mugabe, it could swiftly bring an end to his rule. The president's grip is in any case greatly weakened as Zimbabwe's collapse continues without respite.

If he loses the army then it really is all over for Mugabe. He really has led that country to disaster.

The authorities in Harare yesterday cut off water supplies to the city because there are not enough chemicals to treat the water in the midst of a cholera outbreak.

The health ministry yesterday said cholera has now spread to all but one of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces, as sanitation systems break down across the country. The World Health Organisation says about 425 people have died, but medical charities say the real figure is at least double that among the 11,000 reported cases.

The UN estimates that 5 million people, about half Zimbabwe's population, will need food aid in the coming weeks.

It simply astonishes me that Mugabe has been able to cling on for so long. Obviously he has used the army to intimidate the population and subdue opposition, but he would never have got away with this without the tacit help of South Africa and Mbeki's decision to turn a blind eye and pretend that Mugabe was a man who could be negotiated with.

Mbeki actually shares some of the blame for the crimes that Mugabe has been able to carry out on his people. Without Mbeki's support I feel Mugabe might have fallen much sooner.

We can only hope that this small rebellion amongst the army leads to a wider revulsion against Mugabe and his disgraceful rule.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe, Mbeki, South Africa, Army revolt

Zimbabwe deal on the verge of collapse.

It's hard to pretend that we didn't see this coming.

Mbeki's carefully worked out compromise between Mugabe and Tsvangirai is on the edge of collapse after Mugabe unilaterally named ministers for the key departments of defence, which controls the army; home affairs, which controls the police; and finance, key to resuscitating the nation's devastated economy where even the official rate of inflation is 231 million per cent.

I didn't believe in the deal when it was announced as I don't believe that Mugabe ever had any intention of handing over genuine power to Tsvangirai.

"An idiot wouldn't accept that," Mr Tsvangirai said. "That is not power sharing, it is power grabbing." The decision to issue such a notice ahead of Mr Mbeki's arrival spoke volumes about "Mugabe's unguarded arrogance" and his contempt for the mediation process, the opposition leader added.

Mr Tsvangirai was adamant that he wanted at least two of the three key ministries for him to be part of any power sharing deal. He argues that the less powerful portfolios allocated to him by Mr Mugabe virtually demote him to junior partner, when he won the parliamentary elections and first round of the presidential poll.

Apparently, Mbeki is flying in today to sort out the deadlock, which only means he is coming to be further humiliated by Mugabe, who will not move an inch if past behaviour is any indication of what we can expect.

Mbeki has indulged Mugabe at every turn and we can expect very little success to be achieved at this stage.

The time to challenge Mugabe was after the elections when everyone turned against him, including the ANC and several African nations who made it clear that Mugabe's actions shamed the whole of Africa; and yet still Mbeki, even at that critical juncture, insisted that Mugabe should be negotiated with.

The power sharing deal which Mbeki managed to carve out was greeted with widespread cynicism, as any deal with Mugabe was seen as rewarding the violence and intimidation which swept Zimbabwe ahead of the election.

And the cynicism was well justified as the present collapse proves.

Only Mbeki never saw this coming. Mbeki has continually acted as if Mugabe could change if we only negotiated with him long enough.

He'll continue the same pitiful act today. But I'll be surprised if he gets Mugabe to move an inch. And why should Mugabe? It's the weakness of Mbeki which has allowed him to flout the international community, so he's hardly likely to be intimidated by a visit from the man who has always given in to his every demand.

Mbeki is an enabler, that's why Mugabe always welcomes his intervention.

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Tags: Mbeki, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe crisis talks end in failure as power-sharing deal is rejected

I can't even feign the slightest amount of sympathy for the position which Thabo Mbeki now finds himself in, as it was one entirely of his own making.

Efforts by southern African leaders to end the Zimbabwe crisis by breaking the deadlock between President Robert Mugabe and his arch rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, failed last night.

The stalemate was a personal defeat for Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's President, who assumed the chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Saturday vowing to get a deal during the summit.

Mr Mbeki, who faces criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the crisis, said that talks would continue.

Even after their gathering had officially ended, he summoned Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai back for a last-ditch attempt to get a deal, but to no avail.

Who could have guessed that the man who sent death squads on to his own streets to beat and kill people to force them to vote for him wouldn't give up power easily? I mean, seriously?

Mbeki has done everything in his power to mediate with a man who has shown a brutality which is breathtaking, and we are expected to act as if we are shocked that Mugabe has revealed himself to be everything we always assumed him to be?

Indeed, in the end Mbeki spent most of his time trying to get the winner of the first election, Tsvangirai, to agree to a power sharing scheme in which Mugabe held almost all of the power and Tsvangirai was given the position of "ceremonial prime minister".

I don't know what hold Mugabe has over Mbeki but history will remember Mbeki's intervention here as shameful.

There are many African nations who have been saying that enough is enough for a long time. Both the ANC and Mandela have come out against Mugabe's brutal rule and Mbeki has been almost Mugabe's sole defender.

He perhaps hoped he would hailed as a peacemaker, but events have not transpired that way. Instead, he is shown to be a fool and someone who was too weak to stand up to Magabe and tell him that his time is up.

Will he continue to resist imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe? Does he still, to this day, think that "quiet diplomacy" will bear fruit with this brutal dictator? Nothing Mbeki does anymore will surprise me.

But his failure here has been total, and even he must know it.

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Tags: Thabo Mbeki, Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Mandela, ANC

Mugabe hopes to cling to power by agreeing coalition deal with breakaway MDC faction.

Thabo Mbeki had promised that his "quiet diplomacy" would, in the end, bear fruit. And, indeed, it appears to have done so. But what a poisoned apple he's offering the world as proof of his success.

Mugabe, according to the deal negotiated by Mbeki, remains in power aligned with Arthur Mutambara, leader of a breakaway group from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change to form a new coalition government in which Mugabe retains all of his power and Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader who actually won the first Zimbabwean election, is totally cut out of the process.

And Mbeki thinks that this turkey will fly? He's off his bloody head.

But South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, who mediated the talks in Harare, said Mugabe and Mutambara were "agreed" on the terms of a deal while Tsvangirai objected.

Mbeki said the talks had not failed and were adjourned to give Tsvangirai time to consider the issues. But sources close to the MDC leader said the three days of negotiations in Harare ran into the ground after Mugabe agreed to appoint Tsvangirai as prime minister but insisted on retaining ultimate authority over government. Among the Zimbabwean leader's demands was that he be the most senior member of the cabinet.

Mugabe also rejected significant constitutional reform and insisted that a new coalition administration under his authority serve a full five-year term. Tsvangirai wanted an interim government of about two years before new elections.

"Mugabe wanted Tsvangirai as a ceremonial prime minister. There was never any serious intent by Mugabe to give up power," said a source close to the negotiations. "There is no future for these talks unless the facilitator [Mbeki] is able to come forward with proposals that demonstrate a change in Mugabe's position."

Last night Mugabe's supporters were attempting to blame Tsvangirai for the failure of the negotiations, accusing him of storming out of the talks when they did not go his way.

I honestly don't know what is in Mbeki's head or how he thought he could ever reason with a madman like Mugabe. He has been utterly humiliated and his reputation thrashed due to his insane belief that he could get Mugabe to be reasonable. A man who has behaved the way Mugabe has cares little about what the world thinks of him, so I can't imagine what traction Mbeki hoped he could use to get this man to see sense.

Mbeki has persistently talked up the prospects for a deal between the two main rivals for power. He arrived on Sunday with his aides predicting an agreement within the day in the hopes that a new government and parliament would be installed this week; that would have permitted Mbeki to claim a great success at a regional heads of government summit in Johannesburg this weekend.

But a source close to the talks described Mbeki's role as "hopelessly weak". The source said: "The pressure only went one way, on Tsvangirai, and he had no proposals to break the logjam."

It's hard to believe but Mbeki has actually made the situation worse by allowing Mugabe to do a deal with Mutambara. He has now added the thinnest of veneers of respectability to Mugabe's theft.

And the man that Zimbabweans actually elected is now cut out of the process.

I don't know what it will take for Mbeki to realise that Mugabe will only respond when South Africa and other African nations utterly cut him off and leave him exposed as the undemocratic tyrant that he is. Mbeki is giving the old bugger a respectability that he does not deserve by negotiating with him.

And Mugabe was a fool not to accept the offer of a ceremonial presidential role and full amnesty. It was much, much, more than he deserved.

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Tags: Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Mbeki, South Africa, Morgan Tsvangirai

New blog on the blogroll.

I've added Jobsanger to the blogroll tonight because these two cartoons alone are enough to merit inclusion.




Laughed my arse off!

Check out Jobsanger by clicking on the blogroll on the left hand of this page.

Tags: war on terror, Zimbabwe, Bush, Cheney, 9-11, bin Laden, al Qaeda

No painkillers, no visitors and no way out: Mugabe's hospital ward for MDC activists

The fact that he has successfully stolen the Zimbabwean election has not halted the violence which Mugabe continues to heap upon those who opposed him.

Indeed, there are stories that badly wounded men are being denied treatment in Zimbabwe and are instead being held prisoner in Ward B3 of Gokwe general hospital.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says that at least 13 of its members are held in the ward. Medical staff say they are mostly kept prisoner in side rooms.

"They have all been heavily assaulted," said one of the staff. "Some are burned beyond recognition. Some have broken limbs. They are in serious agony. They have no drugs. They are not allowed to leave. When doctors from the outside tried to bring the medicines they were turned away. So were ambulances to take them to private hospitals with drugs. It is all on the orders of the army and Central Intelligence Organisation."

This refusal to offer treatment is being carried out against burns victims and people who have suffered injury from axe wounds.

Most of the men held against their will are victims of state-orchestrated violence that has continued against the opposition since the widely derided election that returned Mugabe to power a fortnight ago.

The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, told the Guardian that the treatment of the men on Ward B3 is further evidence that the state-orchestrated campaign of killings, torture and abductions has continued after the election.

"We have been saying that the regime has been waging war on its own people and this is further proof," he said. "This is why it is so urgent that the African Union and UN move so urgently as every day that passes more innocent people are losing their lives in this orgy of violence."

And, it is against this background that China and Russia have vetoed UN action in Zimbabwe, urged on by Mbeki, Mugabe's greatest enabler.

Gordon Brown has been very vocal about ending both the violence in Zimbabwe and Mugabe's rule of that country. However, one can't help but think that if Zimbabwe produced oil, then all of our proposed interventions would be of a much more military nature.

Mugabe is getting away with this brutality because the Zimbabweans have nothing that we want.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe, South Africa, China, Russia, UK, Brown, Mbeki, United Nations

Zimbabwe sanctions vetoed at UN

The word which the British foreign secretary used to describe this is "incomprehensible", and I find myself in complete agreement.

A draft resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and a number of his key allies has been vetoed at the UN Security Council. China and Russia rejected the proposed measures, which included a freeze on financial assets and a travel ban.

Apparently Russia had promised to support the resolution when President Dmitry Medvedev attended the G8 summit last week, so this U-turn caught everyone by surprise.

The US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Russia's veto raised "questions about its reliability as a G8 partner".

I knew that China had close ties with many African nations and that South Africa might be able to persuade them to veto the resolution, though I had also hoped the worldwide condemnations which would follow this might make China - so close to the Olympic games - think again. Apparently not.

Russia, however, are the real shock here. I didn't see that coming. And the Russian solidarity almost lets China off the hook. Apparently they have both acted out of concern for Russian and Chinese weapons exporters. I'm glad they've acted out of principle. It would be dreadful if the dictator were to be denied his weapons. I mean, how could he properly deny his people democracy without them?

I am left wondering what Mugabe has to do to get the world community to reign him in.

The UK ambassador said after the vote that the UN had failed in its duty.

"The people of Zimbabwe need to be given hope that there is an end in sight to their suffering," said Sir John Sawers. "The Security Council today has failed to offer them that hope."

However, Russia's ambassador Vitaly Churkin said sanctions would have taken the UN beyond its mandate.

Zimbabwe's ambassador told the BBC the vote should that "reason has prevailed".

"People have been able to see the machinations of Washington, London and France," said Boniface Chidyausiku.

South Africa voted against the sanctions resolution. It has promoted a power-sharing arrangement between President Mugabe and the opposition.

And it's no surprise that, once again, Mbeki is offering Mugabe cover as he has always done. He's rapidly becoming as guilty of crime as Mugabe himself, he's certainly guilty of enabling the old creep to carry out his dirty work.

And the violence in Zimbabwe is ongoing, even as China and Russia offer their vetoes:

Violence in Zimbabwe shows no signs of abating. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says 113 of its activists have been killed since March.

Many of the wounded have sustained horrific burns and other telltale signs of torture. Yesterday, the MDC said another official, Gift Mutsvungunu, had been murdered. His body was found partly burned and with eyes gouged out in a suburb of Harare, Reuters reported.

Unbelievable. So it's okay to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq, despite the fact that Saddam had actually brutalised his people ten years earlier than the UN intervention, but we have no business interfering in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe even as the brutality continues. Perhaps we should have lied and said that we thought that Mugabe had WMD. Maybe that would have raised the issue to the point where we could claim it became a "threat to international peace and security." For that's another reason the Russians have cited to claim that the UN are acting "beyond it's mandate".

So what are they really worried about here? Chechnya?

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Tags: United Nations, Russia, China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mugabe, Mbeki

Global net closes on Mugabe's gang

The net is tightening around Mugabe as the UN released the names of Mugabe and 13 of his henchmen as the main culprits behind the campaign of violence in which scores of opposition supporters have been raped and murdered in an attempt to undermine the democratic process.

The men named by the UN include generals, such as the army chief, Constantine Chiwenga, who is credited with persuading Mr Mugabe to launch a military campaign against the opposition rather than negotiate an exit package in the wake of his defeat in the first round of elections in March.

Hopes for a tough response from the UN were in the balance last night despite the apparent agreement from G8 leaders to push for targeted sanctions. A pitched battle has been under way since Tuesday at the UN Security Council as the United States and Britain sought to force a showdown over Zimbabwe. South Africa has been holding the line at the 15-nation council against measures including an international arms embargo, as well as travel bans and asset freezes targeting each of the 14 named individuals.

It was unclear whether London and Washington had the votes to win the battle as one British diplomat close to the effort said it was "touch and go whether we get them". The uncertainty was added to by the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, who went half way to meeting the West's demands in Japan by signing up to the G8 statement promising to punish the culprits in Zimbabwe, but then stopped short of supporting UN sanctions.

Once again, we find Mbeki attempting to protect these thugs. I have no idea whether or not he will succeed, but his actions are a source of shame for the whole of South Africa. Mandela, the ANC and South Africa's unions have made clear what they think of Mugabe's behaviour and it appears that Mbeki, alone, is always willing to give Mugabe one last chance.

Nor are the MDC in agreement with Mbeki's position:

South Africa argued that punitive action would undermine mediation but this approach was rejected by Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "These are not sanctions against Zimbabwe," said Ian Makoni, a senior MDC official. "They're against individuals guilty of crimes against humanity."

South Africa was also attempting to block efforts to appoint a UN special envoy to Zimbabwe, fearing this would undermine its President, Thabo Mbeki, and his role as regional mediator. He has been fiercly criticised for the apparent failure of "quiet diplomacy" and there have been open calls for his replacement as mediator from the MDC who accuse him of sheltering the Mugabe regime.

Mbeki is, indeed, sheltering the Mugabe regime. I personally want to see him replaced as he is simply worse than useless. He's a chronic enabler who has shown that he is utterly unwilling to stand up to Mugabe and his henchmen.

The time for negotiation has long passed. It is time to remove Mugabe and his henchmen and, if possible, to prosecute them.

Named and shamed: the 13 henchmen identified by the UN

HAPPYTON BONYONGWE

Head of the spy agency, the CIO. Although widely regarded as a restraining influence on the excesses of his colleagues, his job has put him in the front line of activities against Mugabe's opponents. His men have been responsible for the abduction and murder of opposition supporters.

CONSTANTINE CHIWENGA

Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. Vowed to mount an official coup should Mugabe ever hand over to Morgan Tsvangirai. His wife, Jocelyn, has led farm invasions and once declared: "I am itching to spill white blood." She runs a company that sells military gear to the army.

EMMERSON MNANGAGWA

Cabinet minister and Mugabe's most trusted lieutenant. Masterminded murder of tens of thousands in the 1980s Matabeleland massacres. Named in UN report for looting Congo cash from United Merchant Bank.

PERENCE SHIRI

Air force chief. A relative of Mugabe, Shiri was in charge of a North Korean trained unit which did the actual killings in Matabeleland. He trains Mugabe's notorious militias and is known to personally conduct torture sessions.

AUGUSTINE CHIHURI

Police chief. Credited with converting Zimbabwe's police force into armed wing of the ruling party. Led the 2006 urban slum clearance campaign that left one million homeless. Ordered police not to arrest Zanu members but instead arrest MDC officials who file violence reports.

PARADZAI ZIMONDI

Director of prisons. Told members of security agencies not supporting Mugabe they would be regarded as traitors and be rewarded with death. Also ensured prison officers cast ballots for Mugabe.

GIDEON GONO

Reserve Bank head. Close friend of Mugabe, with whom he frequently holidays in Malaysia, Gono is also Mugabe's personal banker and the man who knows where the stolen millions are stashed. He has funded the current political terror campaign.

PATRICK CHINAMASA

Justice Minister. Described by peers in the legal profession as Zimbabwe's most incompetent lawyer, Chinamasa has hounded out independent judges and stuffed the bench with Mugabe cronies. In charge of death squads currently on a killing spree in his rural home of Manicaland.

DIDYMUS MUTASA

State Security minister. Infamously declared he would rather see the death of six million people who support the opposition and remain with only those who support Mugabe. He is in joint charge of the spy agency, the CIO.

GEORGE CHARAMBA

Mugabe's spokesman. Has overseen purging of all state media of journalists critical of the regime and enforced draconian laws against the independent media.

SYDNEY SEKERAMAYI

Minister of Defence. Has been travelling the world, mainly to Asia, to source weapons used in the siege of terror against the opposition. Has organised training of Mugabe's violent ruling party militias by the army and police.

JOSEPH MADE

Minister of farm mechanisation. Credited with destroying Zimbabwe's commercial agricultural sector. He says he would rather see the last remaining farm in Zimbabwe in black hands, even if they cannot farm. Mugabe's own personal farm manager.

DAVID PARIRENYATWA

Minister of Health in country with lowest life expectancy in the world. Cited by WHO for failing to provide adequate drinking water.

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Tags: Mbeki, Mugabe, Zimbabwe, South Africa, United Nations, United Kingdom, United States

More pressure on Mugabe as Russia backs sanctions

The G8 have signalled at last that their patience with Mbeki and his never ending attempts to give Mugabe one last chance has snapped and have called for the world to unite against the Zimbabwean dictator, with even Russia agreeing to support sanctions against the regime.

Diplomats said an "African solution" was not working, and conditions in Zimbabwe were now so bad that "an international solution" was needed.

This is a testament to Mbeki's failure to force Mugabe to any kind of compromise which has resulted in the international community rebuking his stance so publicly.

Russia and Italy dropped their reservations about sanctions after strong pressure from Gordon Brown, who was backed by the US President, George Bush, and France's Nicolas Sarkozy.

Russia's switch of sides could prove pivotal. It leaves China isolated among the permanent members of the UN Security Council and hopes are rising that Beijing will join the international condemnation of the Mugabe regime when the United States tables a United Nations resolution in the next few days.

Although the European Union has imposed sanctions, UN action has been blocked by Russia and China. Financial sanctions would prevent the ruling elite moving money in or out of Zimbabwe from non-EU nations such as Switzerland, and impose a wider travel ban on them and their relatives.

After Russia and Italy dropped their opposition to sanctions, the G8 summit approved a statement calling for the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, to appoint a special envoy to report on the political, humanitarian, human rights and security situation in Zimbabwe and to support regional efforts to mediate between political parties. Crucially, it also added: "We will take further steps, inter alia introducing financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for violence."

One can only hope that this is the final writing on the wall for Mugabe and his thugs. China, with the Olympics due to start soon, will surely not dare to issue any veto when this goes before the UN.

At that point Mugabe will have the entire world against him and even South Africa will have to obey the sanctions and stop propping up this immoral and illegal regime.

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Tags: G8, Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Mbeki, South Africa, Bush, Brown, sanctions

Exclusive: secret film reveals how Mugabe stole an election

Only a moron could be genuinely surprised to find that the vote in Zimbabwe was rigged, but this film, made with the help of The Guardian, shows just how blatantly the rigging was carried out. People were literally made to vote right in front of someone who was known to be one of Mugabe's men. In this case we witness prison officers being told that they can only vote by post, a postal vote that they must complete in the presence of their employer. An employer who has already stated that only Mugabe and Zanu-PF can be allowed to win the election.

Shepherd Yuda, 36, the man who made the film, states that Zimbabwe has been let down by Thabo Mbeki, the South African leader who, rather than intervene, continued to talk about "pan-Africanism".

I've made my views on that clear too many times to repeat the argument now.

"I had never seen that kind of violence before," said Yuda, of the run-up to the election. "How can a government that claimed to be democratically elected kill its people, murder its people, torture its people?"

The film, made for Guardian Films, shows how Yuda and his colleagues at Harare central jail had to fill in their ballots in front of Zanu-PF activists.

Yuda also obtained footage of Zanu-PF rallies where voters were told they should pretend to be illiterate so that an official could fill in their ballot for them on behalf of Mugabe.

He was able to film the MDC's general secretary, Tendai Biti, in leg irons in jail. Biti, now on bail, faces treason charges which carry the death penalty.

Having completed filming, Yuda left Zimbabwe with his family for a new life and is now at a secret destination.

"I don't regret doing this, although it is a painful decision I have taken," he said. "We can live without the memories of seeing dead bodies in the prison, dead bodies in the street, dead bodies in my family.

"I've lost my uncle. My father was also beaten by Zanu-PF. I am praying to God: please God deal with Zanu-PF ruthlessly."

The video speaks for itself, though I don't expect it to have any effect whatsoever. Mbeki and others know that the vote was rigged and yet do nothing. It's astonishing to witness a President of South Africa, of all bloody places, watch a black neighbouring population being denied their democratic rights, and - not only remain silent - but actually to give support to the person who is beating them out of those rights.

International pressure is mounting against Mugabe. It emerged yesterday that a US draft resolution to the UN will call for sanctions against Mugabe and demand that his government immediately begin talks with the MDC.

If adopted by the Security Council, the resolution would freeze the financial assets of Mugabe and 11 other Zimbabwean officials and ban them from travelling.

One would hope that international pressure will see the resolution carried, but I still fear that South Africa will ask China and Russia to veto anything which puts too much pressure on Mugabe.

I remember in the eighties when the ANC used to beg the world to place sanctions on the Apartheid regime that was oppressing them in South Africa. It is actually quite horrible to think that South Africa might now be the very nation working behind the scenes to prevent sanctions being placed on Mugabe.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe, Thabo Mbeki, South Africa, sanctions, vote rigging

Mugabe begins sixth term after beatings, intimidation and murder do their job.

As Mugabe swears himself in for a sixth term in office, at a ceremony which many country's boycotted, there are growing noises amongst the international community which signal that this time the world is ready to take action against the Zimbabwean dictator.

Britain's Africa minister, Mark Malloch Brown, said Britain would join the US in pressing for more sanctions. "This is Mugabe against the world and that makes both sanctions and other political pressures much more plausible because they will be universal," he said.

"In the past what he called sanctions were a very limited set of European and American measures against individuals around him. We can now go way beyond that to global measures."

Even the very few foreign observers (599) allowed into the country have proven far less compliant than Zanu-PF had hoped them to be, openly talking of how undemocratic the process they witnessed was:

The Pan African Parliament monitors said yesterday that the result should not stand. Marwick Khumalo, a Swazi parliamentarian who headed the delegation of 50 observers, said it concluded "the atmosphere prevailing in the country did not give rise to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections".

"The political environment throughout the country was tense, hostile and volatile ... characterised by an electoral campaign marred by high levels of intimidation, violence, displacement of people, abductions, and loss of life," he said.

Khumalo also said the Zimbabwe electoral commission had failed to fulfil its duty as an independent body.

And now, Mugabe heads off to the African Union summit where many of his fellow African leaders are refusing to accept his legitimacy.

Kenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, urged the AU to send troops to free the people of Zimbabwe and called Mugabe "a shame to Africa".

Tanzania, Swaziland and Angola have already spoken out against him. Nelson Mandela has condemned him. The ANC have called his actions "a flagrant violation of democracy". And Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called Mugabe "a Frankenstein for his people" and has said he would support him being removed from office, by force if necessary.

It is fair to say that the pressure now being applied by the African Union is unprecedented. Only the terminally weak, Thabo Mbeki, and a few others continue to pretend that Mugabe has any sort of legitimacy.

Hopefully, Mugabe will feel the wrath of other African leaders when he attends the AU summit, and that he will leave realising that even his fellow Africans do not accept him as the leader of Zimbabwe.

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Tags: Mugabe, Zimbabwe, Mbeki, South Africa, Mandela, ANC

Mugabe rush to be sworn in as Africa turns against him.

There were reports yesterday on BBC radio that the Zimbabwean election had a very low turnout and a record amount of spoiled ballot papers, but none of that is stopping Mugabe from claiming a resounding victory in what must have been one of the bloodiest and most controversial elections in African history.

But Mugabe's claims of victory have been greeted around the world with anger and incredulity:

Washington called the vote a sham and said it will seek a UN Security Council resolution this week to send a 'strong message of deterrence' to Zimbabwe's leader. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said Washington 'will use everything in our power for appropriate sanctions'. The US is also expected to press for an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and a travel ban on its officials.

Gordon Brown yesterday said that Zimbabwe had reached a new low point with the election. 'We will work with international partners to find a way to close this sickening chapter that has cost so many lives,' the Prime Minister said.

The head of one foreign election observer mission, Marwick Khumalo, who leads the Pan-African Parliament monitors, said that many Zimbabweans had voted only out of fear and that the turnout was in truth 'very, very low' after Tsvangirai withdrew from the race because of the violence.

Khumalo also suggested that many voters deliberately defaced their ballots after they were intimidated into going to the polls. He said that at one polling place in rural Matabeleland nearly 40 per cent of the ballots were spoilt, and that at another in Harare the combined numbers of opposition and spoilt ballots matched the vote for the President. 'There was a lot of intimidation for people to vote,' said Khumalo, a parliamentarian from Swaziland. 'You can tell people just wanted to get the indelible ink [on a finger to prove they had voted] to protect themselves from the hooligans.'

So, as many people went into the ballot box and then deliberately spoiled their paper simply to send the message that they did not want Mugabe to be their president, as the amount who actually voted for him.

Mugabe is now anxious to be sworn in so that he can attend the AU with what I can only presume he imagines is a position of strength. I think he's in for a rude awakening when he gets there, as many African nations have turned against him.

Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town, urged African states to declare Mugabe an illegitimate leader and impose a blockade on Zimbabwe. Mugabe said last week that he will tell his critics that many of their elections are worse than Zimbabwe's.

The AU is divided. While countries such as Nigeria, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania have all criticised the poll to some degree, there is less inclination for a confrontation with Mugabe from South Africa and his allies, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. The AU commission chairman, Jean Ping, has urged compromise.

Mugabe's Foreign Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, attempted to forestall a debate on Zimbabwe at a preparatory meeting on Friday and asked to be allowed to read a statement. But there were strong objections from a number of countries, including Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

As usual, South Africa, led by Mbeki, seeks to give Mugabe political cover, but with both the ANC and Mandela having spoken out against Mugabe, Mbeki's position - even within South Africa - is becoming an isolated one.

The genie is out the bottle as far as most Africans are concerned and Mugabe will not be able to put it back in. He has been seen as what he is: a vile dictator who uses brutality to intimidate his people.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has issued a statement:

The 27 June presidential election was not an election, but a declaration of war against the people of Zimbabwe by the ruling party. Dozens of people have been murdered due to politically motivated violence. Thousands of others have been threatened with death, beaten, tortured and harassed for supporting the opposition political party.

The congress therefore supports the decision of our fellow trade unionists in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions not to accept the outcome of any flawed election, and demands that the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union make a clear public statement that the 'election' held on 27 March was a cruel sham, and to withdraw their recognition of a government that has no mandate to rule following its defeat, but is clinging to power by brute force.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for intervention, by force, if necessary:

The former Cape Town archbishop said he would support the deployment of a UN force to restore peace in the country.

Africa has turned against Mugabe, and even Mbeki won't be able to legitimise his deeds now.

UPDATE:

Certain Tory front benchers are said to have investments in Zimbabwe which might be helping prop up Mugabe's regime.

Blood money: the MPs cashing in on Zimbabwe's misery.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve heads a list of Tory MPs with sizeable shareholdings in companies accused of propping up Robert Mugabe's regime, The Independent on Sunday can reveal today.

Three of David Cameron's frontbenchers are among six Conservatives – and one Liberal Democrat – with investments together worth more than £1m in firms trading in Zimbabwe. The revelations will embarrass the Tory leader, who has sought to take the moral high ground over the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Mr Cameron has called on all companies and individuals with "any dealings" in Zimbabwe to examine their consciences and ensure that they are not keeping Mr Mugabe in power.

The companies include Anglo American, the mining giant rebuked last week for pushing ahead with a new £200m platinum mine in Zimbabwe, Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Shell and BP.

It just shows there's money to be made out of slaughter, and Cameron's supposedly "new" Tory Party have the faces in the trough. Disgusting.

UPDATE II:

There is a petition that you can sign demanding that Mbeki and other African leaders find a democratic solution to Zimbabwe's problems.

It reads:

Petition to Thabo Mbeki and other leaders of Southern Africa:

We call on you to hold an emergency meeting of Southern African leaders, to work by all means necessary for a legitimate Zimbabwean government that reflects the will of its people, and to decisively isolate those who stand in the way of a peaceful, democratic future for Zimbabwe.

Sign the petition by clicking here.

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Tags: Mugabe, South Africa, Zimbabwe, elections, Mbeki, Mandela, ANC, Desmond Tutu