US embassy cable - 02HARARE959

UNCLAS HARARE 000959 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND 
SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR SWANN, INR/R/MR, NSC FOR JENDAYI 
FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ZI, PREL, PHUM 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ELECTION AFTERMATH; HARARE 
 
 
1.   Under headline "Who will save us from fellow 
   Africans?" the independent daily "The Daily News" 
   dedicated its April 22 edition to condemning African 
   leaders for supporting the Government of Zimbabwe after 
   fatally flawed March presidential poll.  "We really 
   thing their action was not just irresponsible, but must 
   be criminalized (sic) under international law," the 
   editorial thundered.  Excerpts: 
 
2.   ". . .Africa is fast slipping back into what it 
   used to be - a very dark continent - courtesy of its 
   leaders who, although educated, want to base their rule 
   on the feudal system.  African leaders seem united by 
   one rotten factor: They are so obsessed with power 
   that, once elected, they quickly put in place 
   mechanisms making it virtually impossible for the 
   people to remove them.  That in itself wouldn't be such 
   a bad thing if they weren't so oppressive, repressive 
   and corrupt.  The most worrying aspect in Africa's 
   ongoing slide back to its dark past is the emerging 
   pattern among its leaders of rallying to each other's 
   support in complete disregard of the people's will and 
   welfare.  It is what the highly principled Senegalese 
   President, Andoulaye Wade, who clearly is an exception 
   to the rule, derisively referred to as 'this trade 
   union of presidents.' 
 
   "The political crisis in this country has exposed 
   that evil developed for the whole world to see. 
   All truly neutral observers saw last month's 
   presidential election as a gigantic fraud contrived 
   to give victory where it did not belong and so 
   refused to endorse the results.  But, incredibly 
   and to their eternal shame, 'the trade union of 
   African presidents,' who must be told in no 
   uncertain terms that they have on their hands the 
   blood of all Zimbabweans being tortured and killed 
   to keep ZANU PF in power, chose to gloss over all 
   the glaring flaws and declared the poll legitimate 
   and the results acceptable.  We really think their 
   action was not just irresponsible, but must be 
   criminalized (sic) under international law. . .The 
   question must be asked: Who will save us from the 
   cruelty of our selfish fellow Africans?  While 
   there may be no obvious answer to that question, 
   all despotic African leaders can be sure of at 
   least one thing: Those who make peaceful political 
   change impossible make violent revolution 
   inevitable." 
 
WHITEHEAD