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Bush, AU leader Kikwete discuss Zimbabwe

TOYAKO, Japan (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush and African Union leader Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete discussed but disagreed about sanctions for Zimbabwe during the Group of Eight summit in Japan.

"You know I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe," Bush said during a news briefing. "I'm extremely disappointed in the election, which I labeled a sham election.''

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was re-elected in a June runoff after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew citing escalating violence against his followers. International leaders and organizations denounced the election and the state-sanctioned violence and intimidation leading up to it.

Kikwete, the Tanzanian president, told reporters the two discussed Zimbabwe and he "understands your concerns" that also are concerns of many leaders in Africa.

At a recent summit of the African Union many leaders expressed "dissatisfaction at the way things happen but we also agreed on the way forward," Kikwete said. "The only area that we may differ is on the way forward. You see differently, but for us in Africa we see differently. "

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has offered a resolution that would impose sanctions on Zimbabwean leaders. The African Union passed a resolution urging Mugabe to work with the opposition party, a move Mugabe rejected.

The AU believes "no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe and therefore the parties have to work together to come up to -- to come out, work together, in a government, and then look at the future of their country together," Kikwete said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 07/07/2008

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