What they said... White House Date posted:Thu 10-Jul-2003 Date published:Thu 10-Jul-2003
Back to previous page		The relevant excerpt from the press conference Union Buildings press conference The relevant excerpt from the transcript. The only other reference to Zimbabwe came in President Bush's opening remarks, where he said: "And in Zimbabwe, I've encouraged President Mbeki and his government to continue to work for the return of democracy in that important country." Q During the past week, the two Presidents or the governments of - the government of the U.S. and South Africa - have expressed sharp differences about the best way to deal with the Zimbabwean question. PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes. Q And having met this morning, I wonder if the two Presidents have found the best approach or have agreed about the best approach to deal with Zimbabwe. I see that it is has come up. Can we get from the smiles that you now have a formula to deal best with Zimbabwe? (Laughter.) PRESIDENT MBEKI: I didn't know, President, that we'd expressed sharp differences. PRESIDENT BUSH: That's right. (Laughter.) PRESIDENT MBEKI: No. We are absolutely of one mind, the two governments, President Bush and myself are absolutely of one mind about the urgent need to address the political and economic challenges of Zimbabwe. It's necessary to resolve this matter as quickly as is possible. We have said, as you would know, for a long time that the principle is rooted, principal responsibility for the resolution of these problems rests with the people of Zimbabwe; and, therefore, have urged them - both the ruling party and the opposition, the government and the opposition - to get together and seriously tackle all of these issues. I did tell the President that, indeed, the government - Zanu PF and the MDC are, indeed, discussing. They are engaged in discussions on all of the matters that would be relevant to the resolution of these political and economic problems. So that process is going on. We have communicated the message to both sides that - indeed, as we agreed with the President - that it is very, very important that they should move forward with urgency to find a resolution to these questions. Of course, again, as the President was saying, was saying that apart from these important political issues about democrats and so on, you actually have ordinary people who are hungry in an economy which can't cope with them, and you can't allow that kind of situation to go on forever. So they are discussing. We had discussed this matter earlier, sometime back, with the U.S. government that we have to find, we've got to find a way of getting a political solution and we would, indeed, count very much on such economic, financial support as would come from the United States afterwards, in order to address urgent challenges that face Zimbabwe. So we didn't fight about any of what I've just said. (laughter.) PRESIDENT BUSH: We were smiling because we were certain a clever reporter would try to use the Zimbabwe issue as a way to maybe create tensions which don't exist. Look, Zimbabwe is an important country for the economic health of Africa. A free, peaceful Zimbabwe has got the capacity to deliver a lot of goods and services which are needed on this continent in order to help alleve suffering. And it's a very sad situation that's taken place in that country. Look, we share the same objective. The President is the person most involved; he represents a mighty country in the neighborhood who, because of his position and his responsibility, is working the issue. And I'm not - not any intention of second-guessing his tactics. We share the same outcome. And I think it's important for the United States, whether it be me or my Secretary of State, to speak out when we see a situation where somebody's freedoms have been taken away from them and they're suffering. And that's what we're going to continue to do. But the President is the point man on this important subject. He is working it very hard. He's in touch with the parties involved. He is - he's making - he believes, making good progress. And the United States supports him in this effort. Last question. Randy. Q Yes, Mr. President. Do you regret that your State of the Union accusation that Iraq was trying to buy nuclear materials in Africa is now fueling charges that you and Prime Minister Blair misled the public? And then, secondly, following up on Zimbabwe, are you willing to have a representative meet with a representative of the Zimbabwe opposition leader, who sent a delegation here, and complained that he did not think Mr. Mbeki could be an honest broker in the process? PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I think Mr. Mbeki can be an honest broker, to answer the second question.