Zim Daily News is back on line...
THE South African government has approached Harare about releasing Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and about the resumption of dialogue between the country’s main political parties, diplomats told the Daily News this week. They said Western countries were also pressing South Africa to use its influence to ensure that Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, was not detained for much longer. Tsvangirai, who is already charged with treason for allegedly plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, was arrested last Friday at the end of the five-day anti-government protests called by his party. He is facing fresh treason charges for allegedly making statements calling for the unconstitutional removal of Mugabe and is in remand prison pending a ruling on his application for bail. The diplomatic sources said Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa, which are attempting to facilitate dialogue between the MDC and Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party, were keen to secure Tsvangirai’s release. They told the Daily News that South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma had a telephone conversation with Mugabe on Monday morning, during which Tsvangirai’s arrest and continued detention were brought up.
| Bob's got his own fine line here. He's got to keep cracking down on MDC and Morgan to stave off having his power slip away. But if he disposes of Morgan, even he can see it as his tipping point... |
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