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U.S. cautiously welcomes swearing-in of Zimbabwe's PM

Other News Materials 11 February 2009 23:30 (UTC +04:00)

The United States on Wednesday welcomed the inauguration of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister of Zimbabwe while urging Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to show he is sharing power with opposition leaders, Xinhua reported.

"We certainly congratulate Morgan Tsvangirai on assuming the position of prime minister," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

"However, we will reserve our judgment on the new government until we see what types of actions it takes," he added.
"We need to see evidence of good governance and particularly real, true power-sharing on the part of Robert Mugabe before we are going to make any kind of commitment ... to provide further development assistance or to easing sanctions."

Tsvangirai, leader of the Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was sworn in on Wednesday as prime minister in a unity government.

Relations between the United States and Zimbabwe have soured in recent years, with former U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration accusing Mugabe's government of rigging parliamentary and presidential elections since 2000.

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