London, 26/04/2000 (Agence Europe) - Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declared, prior to his meeting in London with a delegation from Zimbabwe, that dialogue with Harare "is back on track, which is what Britain has been working for all along". Before this visit, Mr Cook met the President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano (who chairs the SADC), who told him he had given President Mugabe, at a meeting last Friday, the message that the United Kingdom was ready to help with land reform in Zimbabwe, "but only within the rule of law", observed Robin Cook.
It will be recalled that, at the request of London, the General Affairs Council discussed the crisis in Zimbabwe this month, and that the advisability of imposing sanctions on this country under the Lomé Convention will be discussed by the Fifteen at the Council on 22 May (see EUROPE of 10/11 April, page 7).