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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Mediators move to revive Zimbabwe unity govt |
| 2009-10-31 |
| [Mail and Globe] African mediators were set to meet on Friday with President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in a bid to revive Zimbabwe's unity deal, paralysed over the arrest of an aide to the premier. Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, joined the unity government with his long-time rival in February hoping to end political violence and halt the nation's economic freefall. Two weeks ago he suspended cooperation with Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in protest over the arrest of Roy Bennett, his nominee for deputy agriculture minister. "All we want is Zanu-PF to honour part of their bargain as stated," Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said. "We hope that there is going to be an objective assessment" by the mediators, he said. "The situation on the ground is not good." A team from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) arrived in Harare on Wednesday in hopes of breaking the deadlock. Mediators, led by Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi, met on Thursday with negotiators from each party, and were set to hold talks late on Friday with the two leaders, according to SADC. Mugabe's party accuses the MDC of failing to lobby Western nations for the lifting of a travel ban and asset freeze on the president and about 200 of his family members and allies. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who met with the negotiators on Thursday, told state media that the sanctions on Mugabe's inner circle were the main threat to the unity deal. |
| Posted by:Fred |