Rice Calls Zimbabwe President a ‘Disgrace’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State Rice yesterday branded Zimbabwe’s president a “disgrace” to his people and to Africa, and expressed concerns about whether the country held free and fair elections.
Ms. Rice, in the Mideast for peace talks, made the harsh comments after voting Saturday in Zimbabwe that presented President Mugabe with the toughest challenge to his 28-year rule. The main opposition party yesterday claimed an early lead; preliminary results were expected by today.
“We’ve made very clear our concerns about how this election might be conducted, given the very bad record of Mr. Mugabe concerning his people, the opposition, and the region,” Ms. Rice told reporters after meeting with Israeli and Palestinian Arab leaders.
