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Zimbabwe says sanctions failure a victory over racism

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-12 19:18

Harare - Zimbabwe on Saturday welcomed the failure of a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions over its presidential elections, calling it a victory over racism and meddling in its affairs.

Russia and China on Friday vetoed the resolution, which would have imposed an arms embargo on the southern African country and financial and travel restrictions on President Robert Mugabe and 13 other officials.

Russia said sanctions would have set a dangerous precedent of political interference. Russia, China and regional powerhouse South Africa said the resolution would have hurt dialogue between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition.

"We are very happy with the turn of events and would like to thank those who helped defeat international racism disguised as multilateral action at the UN," Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said.

"The principles of non-interference into the sovereign affairs of a UN member state have been upheld. What has the UN got to do with member states' elections?," he said.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a March 29 presidential election but failed to get enough votes to avoid a second ballot.

Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off poll held on June 27, citing attacks on his supporters by pro-Mugabe militia. His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Western powers branded Mugabe's landslide re-election a sham.

The MDC is now in preliminary talks with ZANU-PF under the auspices of South African mediators.

South Africa's government applauded the UN decision on Saturday, in line with an African Union resolution to encourage dialogue between ZANU-PF and the MDC instead.

"It is our considered view that imposing sanctions would indeed have impacted negatively on the current dialogue process among Zimbabwean political parties," it said in a statement.

China also said that political dialogue and negotiation is "the only correct path" to solve the Zimbabwe crisis.

A sanction resolution would not only endanger the negotiation process between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition, but also further complicate the situation in Zimbabwe, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.