MEDIA REACTION PRESIDENT BUSH;S VISIT TO AFRICA;

UNCLAS HARARE 001404 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. Under headline "Tsvangirai exhibits inferiority complex" the government-controlled daily "The Herald" dedicated its July 10 editorial to hailing President George W. Bush and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki for coming up with a shared position on how to resolve Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis. Excerpts follow: ¶2. ". . .Yesterday, (Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)leader Morgan Tsvangirai) was told loud and clear that whatever he wants in Washington he must go through the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, whom he has lately described as a dishonest broker. His political immaturity and incorrigibility has truly gone international - he wants to appeal to the American President to take over the brokerage of the discussion between his party and the ruling ZANU PF party. Instead of winning friends, Tsvangirai has sought to demonize those he expected to help him like insulting President Mbeki as an `imperialist.' He has sought to demean African heads of state at every turn while pandering to European and American leaders like a poodle. The South African President smartly told Bush that the Zimbabwean problem was a domestic issue that needed a home-grown solution and not one baked in Washington. The American President saw no offense in this and agreed that he follow the lead of President Mbeki. . .The MDC has had the comfort of being told by small American and British bureaucrats that the American President will be sending troops to remove President Mugabe from power and Tsvangirai and his lieutenants have fallen for this lie. But yesterday they had a good wake-up call - no such thing will happen. If Bush is struggling to decide whether he should send American troops to Liberia then this should be food for thought for the opposition. . . ." SULLIVAN