You should look to the future of Zimbabwe, Mugabe told

Thursday, December 11, 2008

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to "look for the future" of his country and honour commitments under a power-sharing deal with the opposition.

"Mugabe really should look for the future of his country and his own people, who have been suffering too much, too long from this political turmoil now coupled with very serious humanitarian tragedies," Ban told a press briefing here.

The UN chief said he met the 84-year-old Zimbabwean leader for face-to-face talks two weeks ago at a development summit in Qatar, where he urged him to leave his legacy in a positive light.

Mugabe signed a power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan Tsviangarai in September but it has yet to be implemented because of a dispute over who controls key ministries.

Many world leaders including US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have called on Mugabe to step down as his country suffers chronic poverty, rampant hyperinflation and a cholera outbreak that has killed 792 people.

"I have urged as hard as I could to honour his commitment, as a political leader and as president of Zimbabwe, to leave his legacy in a positive way," Ban said, adding he had spoken "from the bottom of my heart."

But the meeting did not go well -- Ban said the dialogue was "very difficult," and "I couldn't get any positive response on the power sharing agreement."

Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980. For the past eight years, the country has sunk into an economic quagmire with mind-boggling hyperinflation, 80 percent unemployment and chronic shortages of food and currency.