Prime ministers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland have called upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union (AU) member countries to exert more On Farewell Tour, Conciliatory Bush Praises US-Europe Ties ...
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US set to spend $50bn against HIV ... leverage on President Robert Mugabe's government. "Violence is spreading, members of the opposition are being harassed and the humanitarian situation is worsening.
It is in this context that the prime ministers are deeply concerned about the statement of President Mugabe at the weekend, which serves to further undermine the conditions of a fair election," said the statement issued by Nordic Prime Ministers after their meeting held in Vadstena, Sweden this week.
"The Nordic prime ministers call upon SADC, AU and other countries in the region to step up pressure on the authorities in Zimbabwe to allow free and fair democratic elections and give access to international observers and humanitarian organizations."
Today, June 19, the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change said four more of their activists had been killed in political violence.
Elections next week Zimbabwe is due to hold a presidential poll run-off poll on June 27 because the opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the March 29 election but fell short of the margin required to takeover the presidency.
But President Mugabe last week declared at a rally held in one of Zimbabwe's towns in the middle of the country that he will not step down from power even if he loses to the opposition leader, saying he was only prepared to do so if he is to handover to a member of his ZANU PF party.
This week his government said it would only accredit election observers that it considered to be friends of the nation. And out of the 50,000 local observers who applied to participate in the election only 10,000 will be accredited.
Ban on aid agencies Early this month, President Mugabe's increasingly isolated government banned all aid agencies from carrying out any relief work in the country accusing them of supporting the opposition MDC.
The European Union (EU) Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel called on the Zimbabwean government to lift the ban saying it only saves to worsen the crisis in the Southern African country.
The Zimbabwean government has only partially lifted the ban allowing only those organizations working in the field of HIV and AIDS and feeding schemes for children to operate. The rest of the other aid groups remain banned until after next week's elections.
The EU remains the most important donor in Zimbabwe. In 2007 it provided 90.9 million euros ($141 million) in humanitarian aid and other assistance oriented towards helping vulnerable people directly.
(Deutsche Welle)
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