Mbeki in a four-page letter to George Bush criticising the USA

[AriseSouthAfrica]

South Africa: Mbeki in a four-page letter to President George Bush criticising the United States for its stance on Zimbabwe.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052702556.html

According to a US official quoted by Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, Mbeki slammed the US - "in a text packed with exclamation points" - for taking sides against President Robert Mugabe and disrespecting the views of the Zimbabwean people.

"He said it was not our business," Gerson quoted the unnamed official as saying, and "to butt out, that Africa belongs to him". He quotes another official as saying "Mbeki lost it; it was outrageous".

Gerson said Mbeki wrote the letter to Bush in April, after the March 29 elections in which Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF lost its parliamentary majority to the Movement for Democratic Change and Mugabe came second to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a four-way race in the presidential poll.

But because Tsvangirai did not get over 50 percent of the vote, he must face Mugabe again in a runoff presidential election on June 27.

Last night, Mbeki's spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said he had no knowledge of Mbeki's letter to Bush.

However, an official of the US embassy in Pretoria confirmed that Bush had received the letter.

"He disagreed with some of the points in the letter. We feel we have an important role to play in bringing peace and security to the region and in helping to ensure free and transparent elections in Zimbabwe.

"The White House is working on a response" to the letter, the embassy official added.

At the weekend, Mugabe threatened to kick out America's ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, for "interfering" in the country's internal affairs.

Gerson cited Mbeki's letter, plus a string of decisions in the United Nations Security Council where South Africa opposed action against human rights offenders, as evidence that "South Africa - of all places - sides with the despots".

Gerson labelled South Africa "a rogue democracy".