Confusion over fate of Zanu PF, MDC talks

Confusion over fate of Zanu PF, MDC talks

• MDC, Zanu PF talks enter second day

• US, UK sanctions push in trouble as Zanu PF, MDC resume talks

• Tsvangirai pulls out of Mbeki, Mugabe talks

• Mbeki rejects EU demands on Zimbabwe

• South Africa calls for transitional government

• Mbeki's 'scathing' report to Mugabe

• 200 'violence victims' camp at SA embassy

• Mbeki gives emergency summit a miss

• Mbeki urges Mugabe to call off election

• Tsvangirai meets Mbeki over poll

• Mbeki set for Mugabe talks in Bulawayo

• Mbeki 'seriously concerned' over Zimbabwe election

• Mbeki meets Mugabe as pressure grows for end to crisis

• Mbeki must quit Zimbabwe effort - Tsvangirai

• Mbeki defends 'quiet diplomacy', admits crisis

• Mbeki snubs Brown at United Nations

• Top MDC officials calls Mbeki a 'drunkard'

• Mugabe blasts 'tiny dot' Brown as Mbeki says 'no crisis'

• Tsvangirai meets Zuma, seeks pressure on Mugabe

• Text: MDC statement on failed SADC dialogue

• Mbeki lauded by SADC over Zimbabwe efforts

• Mbeki says Europe ignorant about Zimbabwe issues

• Joram Nyathi: to isolate or not to isolate Zimbabwe?

• George Mkhwananzi: Beneath the Zanu PF, MDC feud - notes for Mbeki

• Sehlare Makgetlaneng: Mbeki a scapegoat for MDC failure to oppose

• Joram Nyathi: Mbeki mission: we are about to celebrate failure

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party and the opposition failed last week to agree a framework for talks to end Zimbabwe's crisis, the opposition said on Sunday, but state media said negotiations would continue.

The first preliminary talks between the two sides since a disputed election were adjourned on Friday night without agreement, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said.

Election-related violence that has killed 113 MDC activists since the first round of voting in March was continuing and this led to the talks stalemate, MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

The MDC faction led by presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai and a smaller grouping led by Arthur Mutambara began preliminary discussions on Thursday with officials from Zanu PF under the auspices of South African mediators in Pretoria, the South African capital.

"There was (no agreement). The matters are still outstanding. It's not about the table discussions in Pretoria but about what's happening on this side of the Limpopo (river)," Chamisa said.

"We still have to clear the course for meaningful talks."

Despite Chamisa's denials, Zimbabwean state media reports on Sunday suggested an agreement had been reached on a way forward for negotiations.

The state-owned Sunday Mail said the parties had agreed on a "working framework" which "paved the way for serious talks".

Following vetoes by China and Russia on a resolution that sought to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe at the UN Security Council, the Mail reported negotiators had tentatively agreed on terms for detailed talks.

The paper said Zanu PF and the MDC are to draft a memorandum of engagement, which will be subject to approval by the parties’ leaders.

The memorandum of engagement will set out terms for talks following Mugabe’s widely condemned one-man election, including the timeframe, the composition of the negotiating teams and the agenda for discussions, according to the paper.

A South African newspaper reported Sunday that Zanu PF and MDC negotiating teams were set to meet again on Wednesday in Harare to sign a deal that would lay the groundwork for further discussions.

The agreement would likely set out guidelines for negotiations that would occur over a 14-day period, according to The Sunday Independent. - Reuters/Staff Reporter
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