The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, South Africa

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said yesterday that he and others planning a humanitarian mission in Zimbabwe had been refused entry to the impoverished African country.

Carter and two other members of The Elders group - former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and rights advocate Graca Machel, who is married to Nelson Mandela - had planned to assess the country's humanitarian needs as Zimbabweans are stalked by disease and hunger while political crisis occupies its politicians.

But they were told Friday night by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the political crisis, that efforts to secure travel visas for the group had failed, Carter told reporters at a news conference in Johannesburg.

"We are very disappointed that the government of Zimbabwe would not permit us to come in, would not cooperate," Carter said.

It was the first time the 2002 Nobel Peace laureate has been denied permission to carry out a mission in any country, he said.

Annan, also at the news conference, said no official reason had been given for the refusal. He said they read about it in Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper, which reported Thursday that the group had been asked to "come at a later date" to accommodate the crop planting season. The article also said, however, that the group was seen as antagonistic toward Zimbabwe's government.