African Union urges Zimbabwean unity

CAIRO, July 2 (UPI) -- The African Union passed a resolution urging Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to compromise with the opposition party, a move aides said Mugabe rejects.

In rejecting the African Union's call to form a power-sharing government, a Mugabe spokesman said the 84-year-old leader wouldn't embrace a unity government similar to Kenya's following his election, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai , leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party, withdrew from Friday's presidential runoff election, citing escalating acts of violence and intimidation against his supporters.

"Kenya is Kenya. Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe," Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba said. "We have our own history of evolving dialogue and resolving political impasses the Zimbabwean way."

The African Union took up the Zimbabwean situation during its summit at the Red Sea resort Sharm el Sheik in Egypt.

The MDC also seemed cool to the a unity government solution, the Times said. In a statement released from Harare the organization said, "There are no talks or discussions taking place between the two parties and most importantly, there is no agreement in the offing."

The African Union, divided about tough a stance it could take against Mugabe, urged the crisis be mediated by the Southern African Development Community, which found that the elections were undemocratic and "did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe."