Mbeki to travel to Zimbabwe in new push for deal

Mbeki to travel to Zimbabwe in new push for deal

PUSH: South African President Thabo Mbeki set to travel to Zimbabwe in new push for power-sharing deal

• SADC summit fails to secure power-sharing deal

• Mutambara: Tsvangirai indecisive

• Mugabe at odds with Tsvangirai over power-sharing

• Mugabe downcast over power-sharing talks

• Mugabe praises 'patient man' Mbeki

• Zimbabwe rivals fight over who will chair Cabinet

• Mbeki in Zimbabwe for power sharing talks

• Zimbabwe talks break up, draft settlement agreed

• Talks in recess, leaders meet negotiators

• Makone outed as media mole at power-sharing talks

• Zimbabwe negotiators hunt mole, sell world media dummy

• South Africa slams western sanctions on Zim

• Talks delegates 'demand luxury' - paper

• Zimbabwe talks begin, deal said close

• Mugabe, Tsvangirai 'differ sharply' over dinner

• Text: Memorandum of Understanding between Zanu PF and MDC

Last updated: 18/08/2008 07:48:11
SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki will travel to Zimbabwe before the end of the week in the latest push to secure a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and opposition rivals, reports said Monday.

The latest trip follows a weekend summit of regional leaders in South Africa which failed to secure a deal.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported Monday that Mbeki was expected to leave before the end of the week “for the continuation of power sharing talks between Zanu PF and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)”.

Mbeki, who assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) over the weekend, spent four days in Zimbabwe last week trying to nudge Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara towards an “all-inclusive government”.

In a statement at the conclusion of the summit, SADC leaders urged the parties to sign any outstanding agreements as a matter of urgency.

Mbeki pledged SADC’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the decade-long crisis which peaked with President Mugabe’s controversial re-election for a sixth term in a second-round election on June 27 boycotted by Tsvangirai. The MDC leader accused Zanu PF of deploying violence against his supporters.

The Tsvangirai MDC’s secretary general Tendai Biti, speaking in South Africa, said "failure is not an option" in the talks.

"It is critical that we conclude these negotiations very soon. I hope that wise counsel and wisdom will prevail. As the MDC, we welcome the fact that the dialogue will continue under the framework of the memorandum of understanding. We are fully and firmly committed to the process of dialogue. Failure is not an option,” Biti said.

Zimbabwe’s political rivals signed a memorandum of understanding last month laying the framework for power-sharing talks.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com