Zimbabwe's opposition has called on South African President Thabo Mbeki to stand down as a mediator in the wake of the elections crisis.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC Mr Mbeki should be replaced by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa.

Mr Tsvangirai also hinted he could put President Robert Mugabe on trial for what he described as the suppression of people who voted against him.

Is the situation in Zimbabwe beyond African diplomacy? Who should mediate the Zimbabwe crisis? Should the security council intervene? When is it right for the international community to get involved and what can it do?

The election problems in Zimbabwe are best handled by the electoral body in the country
The political problems should be handled by SADC

The west is making the same mistakes they made with Saddam, Bin Laden etc,
How well do we know Tsvangirai ?
What does he stand for? Apart from opposing Mugabe whom the west hates with a passion?

I think the west is trying to incite the people in Zimbabwe without thinking of the welfare of the generality of the Zimbabweans

Mugabe is not the only problem with Zimbabwe!

Why do you think Mugabe refused to go to Zambia for the recent summit? If he steps foot out of Zimba, he will be killed. The rules have changed. Unfortunately, no country can enter Zimba without the support of South Africa and Mbeki is the one keeping Mugabe going. I think Mbeki should focus on battling Zuma who will be ten times worse than Mugabe and leave Mugabe to fall on his sword.

yes mugabe should leave at all cost

Mugabe should leave at all cost?That has been the saying for years actually but the man managed to stay 28 years while people continued with that rant. LMAO!!! Is he going to wake up tommorow and concede to loosing the election?? That could happen but I pray that is not what we are waiting for. The Opposition leader is already calling for international intervention. And if we consider the ship that was bringing Arms to Mugabe from China that was stopped in South Africa( Not that that may not be not just be a concidence) followed by news of bullying of the people to stop them from rioting I am guessing the man is also working on planting his heels as deep as he can in that country. Zims should be allowed to suffer until they learn. Simple!

sure reply, without even reading the content of the thread, i think the kinda iraq intervention should be carried out in zimbabwe, but this time aroud by perhaps, NIGERIA

Its so shameful that Mugabe can not respect himself and quit power, maybe if the Kenyan situation plays out they will start talking about govt of unity. But now that there is no open war yet, African leaders will simply prefer to do nothing.

Mugabe policies are simply not working he should quit

why should the world bother about Zimbabwe? The US went into Iraq and the world accused her of "illegal occupation". Let Tsangirai solve his own problems and leave the rest of the world alone.

they should be left alone. let it play out first. at worst, another round of sanctions against zimbabwe. if zimbabweans refuse to stand up against an opressive regime, then no one should bother to fight for them.

This really is irony at its finest and just funny in a bad way. So apart from South African president and botswana and Namibia, who else in africa should intervene? Nigeria? LOL. The saying we are looking for hear is "don't throw stones if you live in a glass house". The sad situation is good African leaders are in short supply. Sorry, but what audacity would Yaradua need to have to go and tell the dictator in Zimbabwe to step down due to election results etc when Yaradua's own election was greatly regarded as total trite? Why should he? Does that mean i am in support of Mugabe, definately not but i am just being honest. It would be highly hypocritical of a lot of African leaders to do so. Unfortunately the presidents who have the moral obligation to talk to this man do not have the guts to stand for justice.
@bawomolo they should be left alone if they refuse to stand for themselves?? I hope you are applying thesame priciple to Nigeria. All the trash and all the rubbish and a pretty much inactive president and after all the years of tyranny did we ever as a country together stand up for ourselves?? My bad sorry you are right, people do stand up for somethings in Nigeria. When you arrest anyone guilty of robbing from his people and killing them, people from that area cry and shout "selective justice". The only thing some people can be united towards in Nigeria is defending corruption.

Sky Blue:

My bad sorry you are right, people do stand up for somethings in Nigeria. When you arrest anyone guilty of robbing from his people and killing them, people from that area cry and shout "selective justice". The only thing some people can be united towards in Nigeria is defending corruption.

Well,  the situation is playing out the same way in Nigeria, has been for decades and not until Nigerians start learning to stand up for their rights will things change for the better.

4Him, you are right. The world should just stand and watch. No need calling anyone in unless maybe Nigeria (should intervene ). Nigeria is African super power right

4 Him:

why should the world bother about Zimbabwe? The US went into Iraq and the world accused her of "illegal occupation". Let Tsangirai solve his own problems and leave the rest of the world alone.

bawomolo they should be left alone if they refuse to stand for themselves?? I hope you are applying thesame priciple to Nigeria. All the trash and all the rubbish and a pretty much inactive president and after all the years of tyranny did we ever as a country together stand up for ourselves?? My bad sorry you are right, people do stand up for somethings in Nigeria. When you arrest anyone guilty of robbing from his people and killing them, people from that area cry and shout "selective justice". The only thing some people can be united towards in Nigeria is defending corruption.

i'm applying the same principles, when Ukrainians disagreed with the presidential election results, they started the orange revolution. when Lebanese people disagreed with syrian interference, they started the cedar revolution. what do Nigerians do other than get on some gani fawehmi rants. what do we gain from electing the same retired generals and colonial era politicians over and over again. for sub-Saharan's africa to improve, we need to get rid of these colonial era egunje politicians.

why should be the west be bothered by Zimbabweans if the people of Zimbabweans don't think it's time topple the government?? u see what haitians did to their prime minister. protest to Mugabe's presidential mansion and the world would notice. i'm not calling for a violent revolution by the way.

omoge:

4Him, you are right. The world should just stand and watch. No need calling anyone in unless maybe Nigeria (should intervene ). Nigeria is African super power right

nigeria is only a giant by number. we can't even handle nuisances in west africa without the help of the UN. disgusting

I'm tired of these  Zimbabweans who will rather in silence than in protest.  What are they doing? Nobody will response to their plea. Zimbabweans must show the world that they are willing and ready to die for their country before the world will step in.

I  see South Africa's double standard, Nigeria was dissinvited to 96 AFrican Nations Cup because of Abacha and his human rights records, SA govt is telling the world that everything is going well in Zimbabwe. Most   of Africans are surprised when things are going bad in Nigeria, but fail to use the same standard lens to view the same problems happening in their countries or regions. SA should apply the same pressure to Zimbabwe.
Disclaimer: Never been a fan of maladministration in Nigeria.

I say the world should step aside and let the Zimbabweans grow a backbone on their own. Only then will they understand what it means to fight for one's right and why. And I believe the same should be applied across Africa.

While i understand the apathy and all that coming from people, to hear Nigerians telling Zimbabweans to stand up for themselves is just something i find very funny. And to read that Morgan Tvangirai came to Nigeria to ask OBJ for help Is Africa really that lacking in good people, OBJ?? Seriously

LMAO!!! I actually believe this should be applied to all of Africa. I just heard that due to situation, Aids to Darfur will be cut in half soon and I really wish AID given to other african countries like Nigeria, which mostly end up in the pockets of those charlatans, be diverted to actual emergencies around the world instead.

the world needs to help

Are you that after about 2 Trillion dollars in AIDs coupled with loan pardons and what not, Africa needs help from the outside world?? I believe Africa has developed a dependency that needs to be cut off. All over the continent, as we speak, countries are already looking for AID to come in to feed the people, this is in a continent with tens of thousands of hectares of land remaining uncultivated for decades. Are you sure we need to get more food AID to understand that we need to start tilling out land for our own good?? Are you sure we need the world to continue trying to fight our battles for us from afar, while we continue to seat back and watch and wait for salvation to come from them

What is there to do in Zimbabwe? Any oil there?  If the people cannot liberate themselves let them continue to suffer like "God-forsaken" Nigerians who do not know their left from their right!

not should the world intervene in Zimbabwe? but what are African countries doing about zimbabwe? Is it when some people from across the atlantic intervenes then you tell them that they can't get some resources and do the dictacting. Is high time african countries step up and raise the bar to equality in the continent. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

almondjoy:

What is there to do in Zimbabwe? Any oil there? If the people cannot liberate themselves let them continue to suffer like "God-forsaken" Nigerians who do not know their left from their right!

do not confuse my Sister, oil is not the main resource for living but makes part of world evolution God forsaken no one we and our nations forsaken God cause of our ambition, fierces, etc,