Ties that bind

Mbeki’s staking of his reputation on Mugabe’s survival is explained by a complex shared past The African Union closed its meeting at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt this week to a worldwide chorus of disappointment and accusations of betrayal provoked by its closing resolution on Zimbabwe. That the continent’s 53 assembled leaders produced, after hours of closed negotiations, a resolution is in itself surprising, as the Union has not really chosen to single out oppressive or violent regimes in the past. Of the half-a-hundred rulers there, a dozen came to power in coups or through insurrections and a similar number have held power for over two decades; yet some of these very men came out strongly against Mugabe behind closed doors. Nevertheless, the resolution did not condemn what the Union’s own observers called election fraud... [read full story]