A defiant Robert Mugabe has sailed unchallenged through the first test of his presidency by his peers.

Freshly sworn in after a single candidate election, he received a leader’s welcome when he strode into the African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday and emerged unfazed, his authority intact.

He dined at a lavish luncheon given by his Egyptian hosts, hugged heads of state and other diplomats in the corridors and stayed at the Peninsula Hotel, one of the most luxurious in this Red Sea town. “Mr Mugabe is staying there as a courtesy by the Egyptian Government,” a hotel spokesman said. Delegates from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lodged at the Sheraton, while their leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, remained in Zimbabwe.

The African Union’s public response to Mr Mugabe’s seizure of power was seen as a key measure of the organisation’s commitment to democracy after Zimbabwe’s violent run-off elections.

Expert View

Most older women do not necessarily pine for Viagra-fuelled rogering marathons

Rachel Johnson

• More

• Post a comment

Related Links

• ‘They put burning sticks in my mother’s mouth'

• Economic implosion will do for Mugabe

Multimedia

• Comment Central: The 10 most corrupt elections

However, protest from African leaders at the summit was muted, even as Western leaders from France, the United States and Canada joined Britain in ratcheting up pressure on the organisation to reject Mr Mugabe’s authority. In London, Gordon Brown had said that the summit should “make it absolutely clear there has got to be change . . . I think the message is coming from the whole world that the so-called elections will not be recognised”.

In Nairobi, Raila Odinga, the Kenyan Prime Minister, called on the union to eject Mr Mugabe from the summit. He said: “He should be suspended until he allows the African Union to facilitate free and fair elections.” The African Union’s own observers in Harare said the vote “fell short” of the organisation’s standards.

In New York, the United States asked the UN to impose stringent sanctions on Zimbabwe for the first time since the country’s independence. US diplomats circulated a draft resolution calling for a total arms embargo on the country as well as a travel ban and a freezing of the assets of designated individuals who have worked to “undermine democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe”. Washington said that it would push for a vote in the UN Security Council as early as this week.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Ambassador to the UN, said he was “pretty confident” that the Security Council would take action on Zimbabwe. However, African leaders appeared reluctant to launch an outright challenge to Mr Mugabe’s rule for fear that it would propel the country into deeper turmoil. There was also a sense that any criticism levelled by some leaders would be dismissed, given their own countries’ poor democratic records.

Delegates at the summit spoke broadly of the need for negotiations to steer Zimbabwe out of its current political crisis but failed to endorse the three key demands of Mr Tsvangirai. He has asked the union to reject Mr Mugabe’s authority, appoint a new mediator to help to find a solution to the impasse and empower an African police force to patrol the country. A draft resolution does not criticise the run-off or Mr Mugabe.

George Sibotshiwe, a spokesman for the MDC, told The Times he was cautiously optimistic that Africa’s leaders would take stronger measures to end the political crisis during sessions today. “I would hope that the nature of what happened in Zimbabwe warrants a strong response and a lot of the leaders are taking our problems into consideration,” he said.

The summit opened with Asha-Rose Migiro, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, urging African statesmen to take action. She said: “We are facing an extremely grave crisis. This is the single greatest challenge to regional stability in Southern Africa, not only because of its terrible humanitarian and security consequences but because of the dangerous political precedent it sets.” Mr Mugabe appeared unmoved as she spoke.

African leaders sidestepped any criticism of tainted elections. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania said: “We would like to congratulate the Zimbabwean people for their successes but we would also like to express our commiserations for their suffering.”

Times Recommends

• Oprah Winfrey says goodbye to her talk show
• Focus on the big issues, not the bananas
• Václav Havel — symbol of national liberation