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Mugabe rule

July 07, 2008 00:00:00


Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said it is "imperative" there is a new government in Zimbabwe, after meeting refugees in South Africa, BBC reports.

He said he would redouble efforts to ensure Robert Mugabe's regime was not seen as "a legitimate representation of the will of the people of Zimbabwe".

A new government must be formed "that respects the 29 March result," he said.

Thousands of people have fled political violence in Zimbabwe, before and since the disputed presidential election.

Meeting refugees, Mr Miliband said it was a "man-made tragedy" that affected all of Africa.

He said: "No-one who meets the people here could do anything other than redouble their efforts to secure international consensus that the Mugabe regime is not a legitimate representation of the will of the people of Zimbabwe."

He said the international community had to "rally behind" United Nations Security Council resolutions next week in New York.

And he said it was "imperative" that a government was formed that respected the result of the first presidential result on 29 March, when official results gave opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai more votes than Mr Mugabe - but not enough to avoid a run-off.

Mr Tsvangirai later pulled out of the presidential run-off, citing violence in a campaign. His MDC party says 5,000 of its members are still missing.


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