US embassy cable - 03HARARE1417

UNCLAS HARARE 001417 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISIT TO AFRICA; 
HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Talks on Zimbabwe between President George W. Bush and 
      his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki, continue to 
      dominate editorials in the mainstream newspapers. 
      Excerpts: 
 
  2.   Under headline "Mbeki has his job cut out" the 
      independent daily "The Daily News" (07/11) comments: 
 
      "By reassuring U. S. A. President George W. Bush and 
      the whole world that Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU PF and 
      the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) 
      parties are holding talks to find a solution to the 
      country's deepening crisis, South Africa's President 
      Thabo Mbeki has assumed a huge responsibility. . .We 
      have no reason to doubt Mbeki's sincerity in this 
      difficult task of trying to find a solution to 
      Zimbabwe's problems.  Neither do we have cause to 
      believe what several other Zimbabweans have 
      suggested, that Mbeki is a `dishonest broker' and 
      that he is in it merely to try and buy more time for 
      his liberation war ally President Robert Mugabe and 
      his embattled government.  In fact, we would be the 
      first to acknowledge that Mbeki is too intelligent a 
      man not to see the futility of trying to shield a 
      dictatorship in this Global Village.  And more so, 
      it should be clear to all concerned, Mbeki included, 
      that the problems of Zimbabwe cannot be postponed 
      any further. . . ." 
 
  3.   Under headline "U. S. President visit exposes MDC 
      deceit" the government-controlled daily "Chronicle" 
      (07/11) comments: 
 
      "The visit to South Africa this week by American 
      President George W. Bush was indeed a blessing in 
      disguise for Zimbabwe. . .The U-turn by the U. S. 
      President was infact a slap in the face for 
      opposition Movement for Democratic Change leaders 
      who looked forward to Mr. Bush exerting pressure on 
      Mr. Mbeki to act on Harare. . .Mr. Bush, it appears, 
      is beginning to see reason, probably because of the 
      meeting with Mr. Mbeki, one of the regional leaders 
      directly involved in efforts to finding solutions to 
      the problems facing Zimbabwe.  If Mr. Bush's sudden 
      change of heart is a result of the fact that he now 
      knows the truth about Zimbabwe, we want to believe 
      his actions and utterances in the past were because 
      of ignorance or misinformation. . .Now that Mr. Bush 
      has confirmed for himself that some of his actions 
      such as the unpopular `smart sanctions' were based 
      on half-baked truths, there is need to revisit his 
      country's foreign policy on Zimbabwe. . .We salute 
      Mr. Mbeki for remaining firm and resolute in 
      defending Africa's independence, despite the threats 
      and intimidation: 
 
  4.   Under headline "Mbeki stands up to Bush. . .wins" the 
      pro-government weekly "The Business Tribune" (07/10) 
      comments: 
 
       "President George Bush's sojourn in South Africa was 
       so subdued it was an anti-climax. . .What is 
       encouraging about the Bush-Mbeki meeting is that 
       Bush said afterwards now he supported Mbeki.  Mbeki 
       had a lot of detractors of his preferred `quiet 
       diplomacy' method and Bush was the most vociferous 
       of them all.  His change of stance therefore 
       indicates that he sees the problem differently and 
       is encouraging Mbeki to go the way he has always 
       done. . .Africans ought to learn a lesson from Mbeki 
       that Africa can stand up to American bully tactics 
       if it remains forthright in its belief." 
 
SULLIVAN