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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Robert Mugabe was attending an African summit in Egypt on Monday amid growing calls for African leaders to act after the Zimbabwean president's widely discredited election win.
African Union Commission chief Jean Ping told the summit that Africa must assume its responsibility in the Zimbabwe crisis, amid fears that it could destabilise southern Africa.
"Africa must fully shoulder its responsibility and do everything in its power to help the Zimbabwe parties to work together so as to overcome current challenges," he said.
The two-day meeting of the 53-nation bloc in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh opened the day after the AU's top conflict prevention body, the Peace and Security Council, failed to rule on Zimbabwe and referred the thorny issue to the summit itself.
Mugabe, 84, was sworn in for a sixth term on Sunday, having been declared the overwhelming winner of a one-man election run-off after opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew because of violence.
A delegation of AU observers said on Monday that the election fell short of the African Union's standards of democracy, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon slammed Friday's vote result as illegitimate.
African leaders have warned that the crisis could destabilise southern Africa and that power cannot be handed entirely either to Mugabe or to Tsvangirai because of the country's political polarisation.
But so far there has been no consensus among the AU's 53 member states, with the pan-African body issuing diplomatic statements and pushing for a power-sharing arrangement between Mugabe and Tsvangirai's MDC.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change told African leaders they had an "historic opportunity" to denounce the election as a sham.
UN Deputy Secretary General Ahsa-Rose Migiro told leaders at the summit's opening session that the situation in Zimbabwe could set a "dangerous political precedent" after voting took place under "a climate that was not conducive to credible and fair elections."
AU chairman and Tanzanian President Jakayo Kikwete used more diplomatic language to say the Zimbabwe election had "a positive side but there have also been challenges."
"I'd like to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for their success but I also commiserate with them for their suffering," he said. "Now there are even more challenges that need to be addressed."
Apparently seeking to temper potential African hostility amid questions over whether his fellow African leaders would refer to him as "Mr President," Mugabe used his swearing-in to call for dialogue.
"It is my hope that sooner rather than later, we shall as diverse political parties hold consultations towards such serious dialogue as will minimise our difference and enhance the area of unity and cooperation," Mugabe said.
On the summit sidelines, MDC spokesman George Sibotshiwe called for the AU to appoint an envoy to bolster South African President Thabo Mbeki's much-criticised mediation efforts on behalf of the Southern African Development Community.
"Our expectation is fairly simple -- there has to be an acceptance that the election of 27 June was a sham," said Sibotshiwe.
"They have to create some type of plan to assist with the violence on the ground. The crisis has escalated beyond the reach of SADC and therefore requires the African Union to participate."
The SADC was reportedly trying to draw up a text to put to the summit, including power-sharing possibilities.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, among the veteran leader's most vocal critics, has called on the bloc to send troops into Zimbabwe, and labelled Mugabe "a shame to Africa."
However, Kenya, which is emerging from its own deadly political crisis sparked by disputed December elections, has also offered to help the warring factions reach a settlement, Kenya's Daily Nation reported.
South African cleric and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu said on Sunday that "a very good argument can be made for having an international force to restore peace" in Zimbabwe under UN auspices.
US President George W Bush on Saturday ordered additional sanctions to beef up existing measures that include a travel ban on Mugabe's inner circle and a freeze on their bank accounts.
Human Rights Watch called on Sunday for African leaders to impose sanctions against Mugabe and refuse to recognise his legitimacy, calling the election a "sham."
- AFP/jk
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