Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband will visit South Africa next week, the South Africa Foreign Ministry announced Saturday, as the two countries' approach to the problem of Zimbabwe grew ever wider.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has pursued a policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe situation, while Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler, has ostracized Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and demanded a string of new United Nations sanctions against Zimbabwe.
On Friday the South African deputy foreign minister, Aziz Paha, called on the international community to "allow Africans to solve Africa's problems."
"The British Foreign Secretary is coming on Monday. He will visit his South African counterpart on Tuesday" as part of a South African/British bilateral forum, South Africa Foreign Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said.
Mugabe was sworn in Sunday for a new presidential term, immediately after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared that he was the winner of the presidential run-off held on June 27.
Just a few days before the run-off was held, Zimbabwe's opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the race, saying his supporters continued to be attacked by Mugabe's supporters, making the run-off become a de facto one-man election although the withdrawal was dismissed by the ZEC.
Tsvangirai received a leading number of votes, immediately followed by Mugabe, in the March 29 presidential election, but failed to win outright.
Source: Xinhua
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