Zimbabwe has barred former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, former US President Jimmy Carter and other prominent figures from visiting the country to assess the humanitarian crisis, the group said on Saturday. They were denied travel visas to Zimbabwe despite the intervention of former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the political conflict between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
"We had hoped to go to Zimbabwe this morning but we had to cancel because the government has made it clear they will not co-operate," Annan told a news briefing in Johannesburg. Annan, Carter and Nelson Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, are part of a group of prominent figures and former statesmen called The Elders. "Our purpose in coming here was never to be involved in the political issues that have been so controversial in the establishment of a new government in Zimbabwe, but only to help with the humanitarian issue and we will continue to do that," Carter said.
A statement by The Elders said they would stay in South Africa to gather more information on Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who had been scheduled to present a lecture in the south-eastern city of Durban, would meet the three Elders in Johannesburg on Saturday, his spokesman said. Annan, Carter and Machel will also speak to humanitarian agency representatives, civil groups, businesspeople and officials from Zimbabwe.
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