Mugabe says talks on track, wants speedy conclusion

Mugabe says talks on track, wants speedy conclusion

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ZIMBABWE'S President Robert Mugabe said power-sharing negotiations with the opposition were still on track Wednesday, shortly before meeting the talks mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki.

"I understand the talks are going on well and I shall hear today from President Mbeki when he comes," Mugabe told guests at a Central Bank function to announce a new monetary policy.

He added: "We are still negotiating, we want to succeed, and negotiations are negotiations of course, they are different from gambling... You find room for compromise, sometimes compromise is difficult and you stand by your proposals as presented. You debate again and again and reach a compromise. I understand the talks are going well.

"We would like to see the speedy conclusion of the talks ... and successful outcome so that we can focus in the future our attention around our economy.

"We want to see a turnaround for our economy, we want to see a turnaround on our political front," said Mugabe who expressed his "total commitment" to a successful conclusion of the talks, being held at a secret location in the Pretoria area.

But he warned that in such negotiations, "there is no winner or loser. Things are not easy all the time."

Mbeki denied on Tuesday that talks between Zimbabwe's rival parties had reached a deadlock, saying the power-sharing negotiations were going well and negotiators had adjourned to report back to their respective party leaders.

South Africa's department of foreign affairs said in a statement that Mbeki met opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his negotiating team in Pretoria on Tuesday.

"The meetings are part of the president's ongoing SADC-mandated facilitation process in Zimbabwe," the statement added, referring to the Southern African Development Community that asked Mbeki to mediate in Zimbabwe.

Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said that in Harare, Mbeki would also hold talks with Arthur Mutambara, leader of a smaller faction of the opposition MDC.

Senior negotiators from Mugabe's Zanu PF and the MDC started full talks last Thursday after the two rival leaders signed a framework deal on talks on July 21. The agreement set a two-week deadline which runs out on Aug. 4, but it could be extended.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai are under international pressure, including from within Africa, to negotiate a national unity government to end a crisis that has ruined Zimbabwe's economy and flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees. - AFP/Reuters
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