Zimbabwe‘s president Robert Mugabe issued warnings to the United Nations on Saturday, saying that the African Union will set plans in motion to form a splinter group with countries such as Russia, China and India if the U.N. Security Council did not include members of his continent next year.
Image: Robert Mugabe
The 92-year-old president made it known that African Union member countries are still concerned that it had no permanent seats on the Security Council.
Mugabe made his threats after landing in Harare from New York where this year’s U.N. General Assembly meeting was held.
The Zimbabwean leader told ZANU-PF supporters that the African Union wanted to be on the Security Council if veto powers of the five permanent members — China, France, the United Kingdom, the U.S., and Russia — were not removed.
“It is not all permanent members being tough. It is Britain, France and [the United States of] America,” he said, according to VOA News. “If they remain adamant, they must not cry foul when we agree to form our own organization with countries like China, India and other Asian countries. This is what we want to do next year in September, when we have made a commitment.”
During his 30-minute speech, Mugabe did not refer to calls made Thursday by his Botswana counterpart, Ian Khama, to step down and allow fresh blood to improve Zimbabwe’s economy, the report added.
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