SA claims 'movement' in Mbeki mediation effort

SA claims 'movement' in Mbeki mediation effort

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By Staff Reporter

THERE was "some movement" in South African President Thabo Mbeki's mediation efforts in Zimbabwe, Aziz Pahad, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, said Tuesday.

Pahad did not elaborate, saying only that Mbeki was waiting for the response to letters he wrote to leaders of the rival factions of opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president.

He said Mbeki had already received an MDC initial draft on how the party saw the mediation process unfold but he would wait for all the parties to reply to his letters before deciding on the next step. He described the process as being in the "pre-dialogue" stage.

Mbeki was appointed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate the crisis in Zimbabwe during an extra-ordinary summit in Tanzania two weeks ago.

Diplomatic sources said the two MDC factions had jointly produced the draft presented to President Mbeki and had made a demand for a new constitution before next year's presidential and parliamentary elections the centrepiece of their negotiations.

Tomaz Augosto Salamao, the executive secretary of SADC visited Zimbabwe last week to undertake a study on the country’s deteriorating economic situation and prepare the ground for Mbeki's mission.
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