SA says arrests should not delay unity government

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• Text: statement by South Africa cabinet on Zimbabwe

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By MacDonald Dzirutwe
Posted to the web: 29/12/2008 23:49:11
SOUTH Africa said on Monday that the arrest of a leading human rights campaigner should not delay the formation of a unity government, despite opposition threats to pull out of a power-sharing deal over the issue.

Jestina Mukoko, head of a local rights group, and eight other activists were last week charged with recruiting or attempting to recruit Zimbabweans to undergo military training to topple the government.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he will ask his MDC party to suspend negotiations with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF if abductions of MDC members continue and if the arrested activists are not brought to court by Thursday.

"We think the most important step is to form a unity government," South African Presidential spokesman Thabo Masebe told Reuters. "There are many issues that need to be addressed by a unity government. This is one of them."

Influential South Africa is the continent's biggest economy and current chair of regional group of nations SADC.

Zimbabwe has appealed to its highest court against a High Court ruling ordering the release of Mukoko and her co-accused to a local hospital. The court also ordered 23 other mainly opposition activists to be freed from police custody because their detention was illegal. - Reuters
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