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Mugabe
picks poll monitors
News24.com
February
19, 2005
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1665002,00.html
Harare - Russia
is the only European country among 32 nations invited by President
Robert Mugabe to observe next month's crunch parliamentary elections
in Zimbabwe, state radio reported on Saturday, quoting Foreign Minister
Stan Mudenge. The minister unveiled the much-awaited list of foreign
observers at a news conference in the southern town of Masvingo,
according to the radio report.
"Mudenge made
it clear that European Union countries such as Britain and her allies
were not invited since they are hostile to Zimbabwe and have already
made their own pre-judgement of the elections," it said.
The EU slapped
"smart sanctions" on Mugabe and his inner circle shortly after the
2002 presidential polls which international observers said were
tainted with fraud and voter intimidation.
It was not immediately
known when the invitations were sent out but South Africa on Tuesday
voiced concern over the delay in inviting observers from the region.
According to
democratic electoral guidelines pencilled last year by all members
of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC),
invitations should be extended 90 days before elections. Of the
32 invited countries, 23 are from Africa, five from Asia, three
from the Americas and Russia.
The African
Union (AU), the SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA), the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations
are among the regional and international organisations to which
invitations have been extended. South Africa's African National
Congress (ANC), Tanzania's Chama Chama Pinduzi and Mozambique's
Frelimo are some of the liberation movements coming to witness the
closely watched polls.
Foreign diplomats
based in Harare wishing to observe the polls will "be accredited
upon request" by the foreign ministry.
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