HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe recently urged closer ties among African countries to counter-balance growing military unilateralism by Western powers.
Opening a new Parliamentary session, the Zimbabwean leader accused big Western powers of preying on divided weaker nations in the Third World, citing the Iraq war as an example.
Pres. Mugabe said the conflict in the Persian Gulf illustrated why small and weak nations should come together for collective defense and security, and pledged Zimbabwe’s support to Africa and the southern Africa region in particular, as vice-chair of the African Union (AU).
“The recent developments in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere have clearly demonstrated that the new, uni-polar global order, which some countries seek to impose as the new international order, is as dangerous as it is unjust. Needless to say, the dialectical opposite and fitting response to such an ambition is our collective unity and self-assertion in Africa and the rest of the progressive humanitarian world,” he said.
The Zimbabwean leader paid tribute to current AU chair Mozambiqan President Joachim Chissano and his predecessor Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, for steering the continental body through a difficult phase.
“We are happy that through the successive efforts of their Excellencies, Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, our region has played a leadership role in the transformative stage of our continental body, which is now poised to play a crucial part in defending African interests globally.
“The second summit, convened in Mozambique, equipped the AU with protocols and organs necessary for the effective execution of our collective vision and goals on the continent. Africa is ready for a new partnership predicated on her people’s collective ingenuity, resources and markets,” Mr. Mugabe said.
He added: “The launch of an all-Africa Parliament should thus provide a useful platform for pushing an African agenda in the global context.”
Pres. Mugabe said Zimbabwe, which has faced a diplomatic and economic onslaught in the last three years from the West over its controversial land policies, intended to seek and broaden cooperation with other Third World countries, particularly in Africa, which have come to its support against the big powers.
“Zimbabwe’s foreign policy must continue to sharpen its focus on, and consolidate its defense of the national interest, firmly locating its efforts in the broader context of common African action, strengthened by solidarity with progressive Third World peoples,” he said.
“We have to recover lost alliances, resuscitate those that are dormant, and reconstruct those we may have neglected, because it has become clear that the evolving global environment is unkind to the small, dangerous to the weak and the isolated, and tempting to the greedy and high-handed unilateralists, who are quick to resort to lies, propaganda and deception to wage imperialist wars and visit ruin, occupation and plunder on defenseless nations,” he added.
Photo: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
