EU wants Tsvangirai to head Zimbabwe

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - The African Union calledon Tuesday for a national unity government in Zimbabwe afterthe widely condemned re-election of President Robert Mugabe ina violent poll ruled unfair by monitors.

A summit of the pan-African body, which had been dividedover what to do about Zimbabwe, adopted a resolution callingfor Mugabe to enter negotiations with opposition leader MorganTsvangirai, who withdrew from the election because of violence.

The resolution fell short of the much tougher statementwanted by some African nations but it was a rare AUintervention in an internal political dispute and anunprecedented rebuff to Mugabe, previously feted as aliberation hero.

Before the two-day summit ended, Zimbabwe's neighbourBotswana called for Mugabe to be barred from both the AU andsouthern African regional body SADC.

It was the toughest public statement from one of Zimbabwe'sneighbours since Mugabe was sworn in on Sunday following aone-candidate election condemned by monitors and much of worldopinion as violent and unfair.

"In our considered view... the representatives of thecurrent government in Zimbabwe should be excluded fromattending SADC (Southern African Development Community) andAfrican Union meetings," Botswana Vice President MompatiMerafhe said, according to a text of his remarks.

Botswana said Mugabe's participation in African meetings"would give unqualified legitimacy to a process which cannot beconsidered legitimate." It said the government and oppositionmust be treated as equal in any mediation.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has also called forMugabe, 84, to be suspended from the AU after an election whichextended the veteran leader's 28-year rule.

European Union president France said the EU would onlyaccept a Zimbabwean government led by Tsvangirai, echoing aWestern position that Mugabe was now an illegitimate leader.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first round of theelection on March 29 but withdrew from the runoff after he saidpro-government militias killed 86 of his supporters.

DEEP RIFTS

The summit in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh was dominatedby a deepening political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, whoseonce prosperous economy is racked by the world's highest rateof inflation, food and fuel shortages and 80 percentunemployment.

The Botswana statement underlined the deep rifts bothwithin Africa as a whole and among Zimbabwe's neighbours overhow tough to be with Mugabe. The summit overran by severalhours because of the attempt to reach consensus on the issue.

Regional power South Africa, the designated mediator inZimbabwe, has resisted open condemnation. The summit called forSADC mediation, which has been led by President Thabo Mbeki, tocontinue.

Mbeki is under criticism in the region and at home for whatis seen as ineffective mediation that favours Mugabe.

Mugabe made a long address to the final session of thesummit in which he attacked his critics both in Africa andoutside but did not object to the resolution, Egyptian foreignministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told reporters.

"There was a lengthy debate, many views were put forwardincluding very critical views of the Zimbabwean ruling partyand the president," Zaki said.

Summit delegates said earlier the leaders were dividedbetween those who wanted a strong statement about Zimbabwe andothers who were reluctant to publicly censure Mugabe.

The adopted resolution was submitted by a security troikaof SADC comprising Tanzania, Swaziland and Angola, which hadcalled for the vote to be postponed.

Negotiations look like being difficult despite the pressurefrom the summit, which called on the two sides to refrain fromaction that "may negatively impact on the climate ofdialogue.".

Mugabe spokesman George Charamba earlier rejected ideasbeing floated for a Kenyan-style power-sharing deal and MDCSecretary-General Tendai Biti, who was jailed for two weeksbefore the vote, said there was no chance of negotiations.

Biti said Mugabe's decision to go ahead with the June 27election "totally and completely exterminated any prospects ofa negotiated settlement."

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the party would respondto the AU resolution on Wednesday.

The resolution said summit leaders were deeply concerned bythe situation, but were convinced the Zimbabwean people "willbe able to resolve their differences and work together onceagain as one nation, provided they receive undivided supportfrom SADC, the AU and the world at large."

In a sign of the depth of divisions, Charamba accusedOdinga -- who has called for Mugabe to be expelled from the AU-- of having bloodstained hands from the crisis in his country,in which 1,500 people died earlier this year.

"Odinga's hands drip with blood, raw African blood. Andthat blood is not going to be cleansed by any amount of abuseof Zimbabwe. Not at all," he told reporters.

Odinga joined a power-sharing government with PresidentMwai Kibaki under an AU-backed deal to end the Kenya crisis.

Tsvangirai left the Dutch embassy in Harare on Tuesdayafter taking refuge for more than a week, the Dutch governmentsaid.

As expected, the summit did not back a U.S. push for UnitedNations sanctions against Mugabe, including an arms embargo.

So far only Western powers have imposed financial andtravel sanctions against the Zimbabwean leader and his topofficials.

(For further stories on Zimbabwe please click)

(Additional reporting by Cynthia Johnston and Daniel Wallisin Sharm el-Sheikh, Nelson Banya and MacDonald Dzirutwe inHarare,

Marius Bosch in Johannesburg; Writing by Barry Moody;Editing by Matthew Tostevin)