BRUSSELS, March 26 (UPI) -- South Africa should play a major role in restoring stability in Zimbabwe, the International Crisis Group said Monday.
The advocacy group said the South African government and the Southern African development community should do more to help Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and opposition Movement for Democratic Change to restore democracy to the country.
"Zimbabwe's political opposition has emerged determined and re-energized -- and now needs all the support it can get," the group said, adding that Zimbabwe's "latest campaign of violence and repression is deplorable. But the regime is not succeeding in cowing the opposition into submission."
The ICG also noted that even within the ruling party there is growing recognition that the "end-game for President Robert Mugabe is near and their own political survival is at stake," thereby making those even within Mugabe's inner circle look for options for a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe.
"The international community -- and regional actors, in particular -- must step in to prevent the country imploding by supporting a negotiated settlement. It is high time to stop the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe," the group said.
