France Rejects Mugabe

France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, announced on Monday that his country would not recognize the government of Robert Mugabe. Kouchner, who co-founded the human rights organization Doctors Without Borders, dismissed Zimbabwe’s recent election as a “farce.”

France’s top diplomat was hopeful that other African nations would pressure Mugabe. To that end, the United Nations has called on African leaders to find a “negotiated solution” to the conflict in Zimbabwe.

AP via The International Herald Tribune:

France’s foreign minister says the re-election of Zimbabwe ruler Robert Mugabe is a “farce” and that France cannot accept it.

Bernard Kouchner says France has decided that the government is illegitimate. France takes over the European Union’s rotating six-month presidency on Tuesday.

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BBC:

UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro said this was the “moment of truth” for the African Union leaders.

Ms Migiro told the leaders of the 53-nation bloc: ” ... The secretary-general urges your excellencies to mobilise support for a negotiated solution.”

She added: “This is the single greatest challenge to regional stability in southern Africa.”

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Patrick Chappatte, NZZ am Sonntag