PRETORIA, South Africa — The top U.S. envoy to Africa said Thursday that Zimbab we’s opposition leader won the nation’s disputed presidential election and longtime President Robert Mugabe should step down.
The opposition claims that Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe outright in the March 29 vote. Independent Zimbab wean observers also say Tsvangirai won, though not by enough to avoid a runoff.
“We think in this situation we have a clear victor,” said Jendayi Frazer, assistant U.S. secretary of state for African affairs, citing the independent figures. “Morgan Tsvangirai won, and perhaps outright, at which point you don’t need a government of national unity. You have to accept the result.”
The estimate she cited gave Tsvangirai 49.4 percent of the vote. Accounting for the margin of error, the projection does not rule out that Tsvangirai could have won the 50 percent plus one vote needed for outright victory.
Zimbabweans are still waiting for the official results. The opposition accuses Mugabe of withholding them while he plots how to keep power and orchestrates a campaign of retribution that the opposition says has killed at least 10 of its supporters. Mugabe, 84, has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
Also Thursday, China recalled a ship ferrying arms to Zimbabwe, allaying concerns that the weapons may fan post-election violence there.
Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told reporters Thursday in Beijing of the move. The decision follows a U.S. request that China withdraw the “inappropriate” shipment and comes after labor unions in South Africa said the arms may be used by Mugabe’s ruling party against political opponents.
The shipment “was agreed upon last year and does not breach any laws or international conventions,” Jiang said. “If some people want to create conflict between China and African countries, I don’t think they will get anywhere.”
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
