As African Union calls for national unity government in Zimbabwe

By DAVID WILLIAMS, DailyMail The African Union has called for a national unity government in Zimbabwe after the controversial re-election of Robert Mugabe.

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But the African leaders rejected a demand for the Zimbabwe president to be barred from future meetings of the group. The plea for his suspension, came from Botswana. The country's representatives said Mugabe's participation in AU meetings 'would give unqualified legitimacy to a process which cannot be considered legitimate'. The meeting, on Tuesday night, did approve a resolution calling for a unity government in Zimbabwe, and urged the opposing parties in the country to begin negotiations. But Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba rejected ideas being floated for a Kenyan-style power-sharing deal in which the president and prime minister are from opposing parties. He insisted the 84-year-old leader would not offer anything beyond dialogue with the opposition - and had no intention of standing down. 'He's a few days into office and you expect him to retire, do you? Why is the issue of the retirement of the president of Zimbabwe such an obsession for the West?' he said at the summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. More..