By Peter Fabricius and Sapa-AFP
The G8 leaders' rejection of President Robert Mugabe's legitimacy and threats of sanctions against his regime are racist and an insult to African leaders, according to the Zimbabwean government.
Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga was responding on Tuesday to an agreement by leaders of the major industrialised nations to tighten sanctions against Zimbabwe and appoint a special UN envoy to the country.
"They want to undermine the African Union (AU) and President (Thabo) Mbeki's (mediation) efforts because they are racist, because they think only white people think better," he said. "It's an insult to African leaders."
He insisted that Mugabe, elected last month in a widely denounced one-man vote, was the southern African nation's rightful leader.
"President Mugabe is the legitimate president of Zimbabwe and no amount of force or pressure will reverse that," he said.
Leaders of the G8 countries wound up their summit in Japan, rejecting Mugabe's legitimacy and promising "further steps" against his regime against its disputed poll.
Matonga accused them of trying to set up a "parallel structure" to the AU.
The AU called for dialogue and a national unity administration during a summit in Egypt last week.
Matonga said if they were unhappy with the AU's decision on Zimbabwe, they should have raised their concerns through the relevant AU channels.
"Mbeki is more experienced and familiar with the Zimbabwean terrain because he is the man on the ground."
The moves by G8 leaders were a slap in the face for Mbeki, the official mediator appointed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The G8 move was an implicit vote of no-confidence in Mbeki and SADC's mediation efforts.
Mbeki and other African leaders met the G8 leaders on Monday and tried to persuade them that sanctions would be counterproductive, as they could discourage Mugabe from negotiating a power-sharing deal, and provoke conflict.
South Africa and most other African leaders are also opposed to involving the UN in the mediation.
It is understood that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown argued for sanctions in a debate during dinner at the summit on Tuesday night and threatened to expose leaders who were against it.
Eventually the leaders agreed on a statement that denied the legitimacy of Mugabe's government because his victory in the June 27 presidential run-off election did "not reflect the will of the people".
Their statement said: "We will take further steps, inter alia introducing financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for violence."
Japanese foreign ministry spokesperson Kazuo Kodama, who had hinted that the leaders would not go for further sanctions, would not confirm on Tuesday that the new measures represented sanctions.
Though the G8 leaders recommended the appointment of a special UN envoy on Zimbabwe, they also agreed to work together with SADC and the AU for a prompt resolution of the conflict.
The leaders said the UN envoy should "report on the political, humanitarian, human rights and security situation and support regional efforts to take forward mediation between political parties".
This categorical decision to put Zimbabwe directly on the UN's agenda puts the G8 countries in direct conflict with South Africa, which has insisted that Zimbabwe is an African problem that should be resolved by Africans.
But the run-off election was evidently too much for the G8 leaders, persuading them that the African solution had failed.
Mugabe declared victory two days after the elections and had himself inaugurated, despite the withdrawal of his rival candidate, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
"We deplore the fact that the Zimbabwean authorities pressed ahead with the presidential election despite the absence of appropriate conditions for free and fair voting as a result of their systematic violence, obstruction and intimidation," the G8 leaders said.
Meanwhile, Hans Pienaar reports that the Presidency has denied that Mbeki had told Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda that Mugabe's regime was unlawful.
On Monday at a press briefing foreign ministry deputy press secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi quoted Mbeki as telling Fukuda that was why a government of national unity was needed.
The Presidency said yesterday this was not true.
The Presidency had said on June 30 it would adopt a position on Mugabe's legitimacy after hearing AU and SADC reports.