Obasanjo visits on peace mission

Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo was tense on Monday, but there was no repeat of the political clashes and running street battles that led to 39 arrests the day before. A journalist in the city told IRIN that the police had denied reports that four people had died in the violence on Sunday between ruling ZANU-PF party militants and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters. News reports said 20 people were wounded. There was no independent confirmation of an MDC statement that 14 of its members were missing. According to the journalist, the police said that all of the 39 people arrested belonged to the MDC. The violence broke out when some 150 ZANU-PF militants occupied the stadium venue of an MDC rally and denied the opposition party access. The police were called to the scene, but asked the MDC supporters to disperse, the journalist said. As stone throwing broke out between the rival supporters, the police fired teargas at the MDC crowd which responded with more stones. Running street battles with the police continued into the city's high density suburbs. IRIN was unable to get comment from government officials. The violence in Bulawayo, a city regarded as staunchly anti-ZANU-PF, came as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Zimbabwe on a peace mission ahead of presidential elections in March. Obasanjo, who brokered the so-called Abuja Agreement on land reform between Zimbabwe and former colonial power Britain last year, held talks with President Robert Mugabe early on Monday and said progress on the agreement was slow, AFP reported. He also held talks with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe told IRIN. "He assured us that Mugabe was saying he will now stop the violence. Mr Tsvangirai pointed out that the very day he was being assured the political campaign would be free and fair, we were being stopped from campaigning in Bulawayo," Jongwe said. Obasanjo's message that Mugabe was sincere, was similar to the one broadcast by southern African leaders earlier this month at a summit in Blantyre, Malawi. "Obviously that's the tragedy being faced by the people of Zimbabwe," Jongwe said. "It's not the MDC that is being isolated but the people of Zimbabwe." Meanwhile, the Spanish news agency EFE reported on Monday that Zimbabwe, apparently bowing to European Union (EU) demands, had confirmed that it would invite international observers to oversee the 9-10 March elections. The confirmation came in a letter to Foreign Minister Josep Pique of Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, from Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge. "I can confirm that the government is inviting regional and international observers, including those from the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) nations and the EU, as well as from regional and international organisations such as the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations," EFE reported the letter as saying. It also agreed to allow international journalists to cover the elections. The letter followed Zimbabwe "consultations" with the EU on 11 January at which Brussels asked for written confirmation that the EU's concerns over international observers and media freedom would be addressed. What remains to be seen is whether Mudenge's response is deemed satisfactory by the Council of Ministers due to meet on 28 January. Failure by Zimbabwe to deliver a "solution acceptable to both parties" under the terms of the Cotonou agreement between the ACP and EU, would lead to "appropriate measures being taken" - which has widely been interpreted as sanctions. "Smart sanctions" - targeting Mugabe and Zimbabwe's political elite - have been touted as a possible response by the EU and other Western governments concerned with the country's mounting political violence and reported human rights violations. "The overwhelming objective would be to isolate Mugabe from those that surround him," foreign affairs specialist John Stremlau at South Africa's University of Witwatersrand told IRIN. The measures would include travel bans and financial pressure. "They would be reminding the elite that they are increasingly becoming isolated and pariahs ... encouraging them to cut loose from the present regime." Although acknowledging the difficulties of effectively targeting sanctions, "the war on terrorism has given enormous impetus for governments to cooperate more to go after the bad guys", Stremlau said. Internationally isolated Zimbabwe would be a "good target" for sanctions because of the likelihood of a Western consensus on action, and its relatively weak position.