Carter decries crisis in Zimbabwe

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, part of a delegation denied access to Zimbabwe, says conditions in that country are worse than he thought initially.

Carter, speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, also expressed dismay at Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his administration's refusal to meet with the United Nations or relief organizations or accept their aid, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

"The entire basic structure in education, healthcare, feeding people, social services and sanitation has broken down," Carter said Monday. "These are all indications that the crisis in Zimbabwe is much greater, much worse than we had ever imagined."

The delegation last week was denied entry into Zimbabwe to assess the crisis. The group also includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

An estimated 4.9 million people in Zimbabwe need food aid and 300 have died in a cholera epidemic.

Because the delegation cannot travel to Zimbabwe, it is meeting in South Africa with Zimbabwean refugees and opposition leaders, South African government officials, diplomats, humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations, the Times said.

Citing information gotten from those briefings, Carter said the Mugabe government refused to meet with the United Nations, other organizations and ambassadors from major donor countries for the last year.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe blamed the lack of a legitimate government for Zimbabwe's crisis. Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the leader of another opposition group, Arthur Mutambara, agreed in September to share power following disputed elections.