200806251818 | Mugabe defiant as criticism grows

Mugabe defiant as criticism grows

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has vowed to press ahead with Friday's run-off presidential election despite growing international condemnation. Speaking to supporters, he said London and Washington could "shout as loud as they like" but the vote would be held.

South Africa's governing ANC party has accused his government of "riding roughshod" over democracy, while the UN has said a fair poll is "impossible".

Zimbabwe's opposition has withdrawn from the poll amid mounting violence.

The Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) regional bloc is due to hold an emergency summit on Wednesday on Zimbabwe's political crisis, reports said.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, said it had confirmed in writing on Tuesday its withdrawal from the presidential race.

The MDC says some 86 supporters have been killed and 200,000 forced from their homes by Zanu-PF militias. The ruling Zanu-PF party blames the MDC for the violence.

'Compelling evidence'

Speaking at a rally in the town of Banket, Mr Mugabe said: "They can shout as loud as they like from Washington or from London or from any other quarter. Our people, our people, only our people will decide and nobody else."


We are deeply dismayed by the actions of the government of Zimbabwe which is riding roughshod over the hard-won democratic rights of the people of that country
African National Congress statement

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Full text: MDC withdrawal letter

He accused Mr Tsvangirai of pulling out of the election because he became frightened of losing when he saw "a political hurricane coming his way".

The US Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the UN Security Council would consider further steps against Zimbabwe if Harare ignored its concerns, but did not specify what the steps might be.

The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously agreed to condemn the violence in Zimbabwe and said a free and fair run-off election would be "impossible".

South Africa's governing ANC party added its voice to growing international criticism of Mr Mugabe's government on Tuesday.

It was "deeply dismayed by the actions of the Zimbabwean government - which is riding roughshod over hard-won democratic rights", the party said.

It referred to "compelling evidence of violence, intimidation and outright terror".


Morgan Tsvangirai addresses media in Harare on 22 June 2008

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The BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says that coming from South Africa - the most powerful country in the region - the ANC statement is a further sign of Mr Mugabe's growing isolation.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has been adopting a policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Mr Tsvangirai said he might leave the Dutch embassy in Harare on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mr Tsvangirai, who took refuge there on Sunday night, hours after pulling out of this Friday's vote, said the Dutch ambassador had received assurances from the Zimbabwean authorities about his safety.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, in a statement about his attempts to mediate in Zimbabwe, said Mr Tsvangirai had been fleeing soldiers when he took refuge.

In other developments on Tuesday:

ZIMBABWE AND ITS NEIGHBOURS
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Zimbabwe's opposition is hoping neighbouring countries will put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to step down. In the past they supported him. How are relations now?
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South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki is the key Zimbabwe mediator. He has refused to criticise Robert Mugabe but the ruling ANC and trade unions have urged him to take a stronger line.
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Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has taken the region's strongest line on Zimbabwe. He says Zimbabwe is a regional "embarrassment".
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Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is one of Robert Mugabe's closest allies - they fought colonialism together in the 1970s. He has urged Mr Mugabe to stop the violence.
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Botswana has summoned a Zimbabwean envoy to complain about the political violence. It has been supportive of Zimbabwe's opposition.
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Namibia is a close ally of Zimbabwe - it, too, is planning to redistribute white-owned farms to black villagers. It has not criticised the election violence.
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Mozambique has hosted some white farmers forced from Zimbabwe and is seen as relatively sympathetic to Zimbabwe's opposition.
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Tanzania's ruling party has a long history of close ties to Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and its foreign minister has condemned the violence.
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DR Congo's President Joseph Kabila is an ally of Robert Mugabe, who sent troops to help his father, Laurent Kabila, fight rebels.
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Malawi is seen as neutral. But some 3m people of Malawian origin are in Zimbabwe, mostly farmworkers who have lost their jobs and were often assaulted during farm invasions.
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    * Robert Mugabe, quoted by the pro-government Herald newspaper, accused Western countries of "telling a lot of lies about Zimbabwe" in order to justify an intervention
    * Former UN High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Paddy Ashdown, a British politician, warned Zimbabwe's violence could descend into genocide like that in Rwanda in 1994
    * The International Cricket Council said it would consider whether to ban Zimbabwe from international cricket at a meeting in Dubai next week
    * An African election observer, who does not want to be named, told the BBC torture was "the order of the day" in Zimbabwe
    * A BBC reporter in Bulawayo, south-west of Harare, reported that members of an MDC faction had this week been ambushing and attacking pro-Zanu-PF, so-called war veterans in the area

The MDC won the parliamentary vote in March, and claims to have won the first round of the presidential contest outright.

According to official results, Mr Tsvangirai was ahead of Mr Mugabe but failed to gain enough votes to avoid a run-off.