MEDIA REACTION PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISIT TO AFRICA;

UNCLAS HARARE 001377 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISIT TO AFRICA; HARARE ¶1. Weekend editorials continue to focus on President Bush's first trip to Africa. Excerpts follow: ¶2. Under headline "Rude awakening awaits Bush" the government-controlled weekly "Sunday News" (06/29) comments: "The announcement that U. S. President George W. Bush, whose hands are dripping with the blood of brave Iraqi soldiers and defenseless Iraqi women and children, is set to visit Africa from 7 to 12 July should surely send chills in the spines of independent thinking, peace loving Africans and anti- imperial forces on the continent. Already one such peace loving statesman on the African continent. . .Mr. Nelson Mandela has set the tone for the sort of reception which Bush should expect from independent Africans when he visits next month. . .The United States leader, George W. Bush is now a loose canon in world politics. . .It is clear therefore that during his visit to Africa, Bush will try and influence African leaders to `rein in' President Mugabe who is exposing U. S.'s hegemonic tendencies in return for aid. Americans are known for their belief in the carrot and stick approach as a political arsenal in world politics. . .Like what he did in Iraq, he is playing the savior for what he regards as `poor Zimbabweans' under a dictatorship. Such a patronizing attitude can never be brooked by any serious independent African both in the continent and in the Diaspora unless they are prepared for the re-colonization of the continent. There is no need for U. S. involvement in the solution of the problems bedeviling Zimbabweans. . .If America is genuinely interested in helping Zimbabweans solve their problems it should stop fuelling politics of hatred and sponsoring attempts to overthrow a legitimate government. . .The British and American machinations to isolate Zimbabwe are well documented and so is the resistance by African countries to be used in this game. . .We therefore call upon all Africans to continue with this African solidarity when Bush visits the continent next month. Africans for Africans - that should be the guiding rule. . . ." ¶3. Under headline "Act against American meddling" the government-controlled daily "Chronicle" (06/28) comments: "The world, it appears, is yet to see more of American meddling and indiscriminate bullying at the instigation of the Bush administration. This is the same administration that took over from Bill Clinton and further dented the credibility of the United Nations. The U. N. could be mistaken for some department in Bush's administration since he can veto its decisions and out rightly defy others with no fear of punishment. While the rest of the world has complained about the flagrant disregard for international law where the U. S. seeks to protect or expand its interests, very little had come our way from the State's people with regard to the way it conducts its business, and even other people's. . .Zimbabwe, in its small way has tried to play its part in bringing order to the region by sending its troops to trouble spots on the continent, with the most recent under the auspices of SADC, in the DRC. However, the Americans have been the stumbling block since they have backed the two countries whose armies invaded the DRC. . .To this day, that country has not seen peace, and the ¶U. S. seems content. . .And the plunder by a country that fails to run its own elections yet accusing all other countries of failing to run theirs, seems to be going a gear up amid reports that Bush will be visiting the Southern African region, where he is threatening to unleash his disastrous recipe on Zimbabwe. He is so obsessed with regime change throughout the world under the false belief that it would guarantee him some emperor tag. . .Zimbabwe is presently under Western-imposed sanctions. So was Iraqi before the American invasion that has resulted in misery for the Iraqi people. The U. N. has to act against the continued invasions or the little that remains of its credibility will vanish. . . ." SULLIVAN