Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Blaker (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 30 June 2008.

Zimbabwe

Question: My Lords, there are so many threads in this picture that it is difficult to know which ones to pick up but I shall briefly mention three. The first is that support is flowing away from Mugabe. He has been criticised by Mandela, two archbishops, the Secretary-General of the Security Council, the G8, the EU, SADC observers, which is significant, and the African Union, which is also significant. Therefore, it is a case of Mugabe against the world. The second is the position of Mugabe’s military, which played a very big role in the terror over the past weeks in return for Mugabe giving up his idea of retiring. Finally— My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that it is important that we should not play too big a role in this scene and that it is for the Africans to deal with?

Answer: My Lords, I agree with everything that the noble Lord said. We should not play too big a role, and it is important that the Security Council, the African Union and SADC work together on this. However, we do have a role and a strong view on this, and anything that we can do to help to resolve this outrageous position, we will do.

Secondary information