In the first visit to Israel in 12 years by a French president, Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the Knesset, calling on the Jewish state to stop construction of illegal colonies on Palestinian land and to adhere to UN resolutions. And in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is taking every step to cling to power. These events were contemplated, analysed and commented on. We present here excerpts of editorials from the regional and international press
Sarkozy in Israel
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy took Israel to task during his recent visit to Tel Aviv. Addressing the Knesset, Sarkozy criticised the Jewish state for building illegal colonies in the Occupied Territories and for not doing much to pave the way for a viable two-state solution and towards peace in the region. The French leader also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during which he unveiled plans for his country to construct an industrial park on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
Commenting on Sarkozy's new role as a Middle East peace mediator, Arab News said: "The first question has to be, however, whether Sarkozy is merely following the traditional French line of exploiting foreign policy opportunities to take a tangentially different line, especially from the Americans and British, or whether he has opted to involve France in the Middle East in a deeper and more significant manner. The signs are that the latter is true."
Elaborating on the second question, it remarked: "The next question concerns the extent to which Sarkozy is operating on behalf of the wider European Union (EU), which has thus far allowed Washington to dictate the agenda of the Middle East Peace Quartet, of which the EU is a member. If his initiative enjoys tacit approval from other European capitals, then his demands of Israel (and also of the Palestinians for the curbing of attacks against Israel) will carry that much more weight and cannot therefore be dismissed by Israeli hard-liners. It is indeed hard to see any other European leader with the reputation to spearhead such a campaign."
It added: "However, if all that comes out of this trip is a West Bank industrial park that will become a future target for Israeli warplanes when they want to inflict further collective punishment on the Palestinians, it will have been a failure."
Zimbabwe's crisis
Robert Mugabe is doing everything within his power to win today's elections. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out of the race and has requested the United Nations and African leaders to help restore conditions for free and fair elections. The Security Council has issued a nonbinding statement and has blamed the Zimbabwe government for the undemocratic means that are being employed to harass the opposition in the country.
The Christian Science Monitor stated that Zimbabwe's hounded opposition "can no longer protect itself from the attack dogs of dictator Robert Mugabe on its own. This destitute country needs the world's help in ending the illegitimate rule of one of Africa's last strongmen."
It also called for a tougher action against Zimbabwe, including sanctions on the country's elite. "That may help, but the world should work even harder to encourage African leaders - particularly Zimbabwe's neighbours - to speak and act together against this tyrant," it added.
"Zimbabwe's presidential runoff election is still scheduled for Friday [today]. But President Robert Mugabe has already stolen the vote," The New York Times commented.
"This cannot continue. The United States, Zimbabwe's African neighbours and the rest of the international community must immediately press for a postponement of the balloting."
